Clear blown glass vase with opaque red spiral of colour, handmade by Emma Young at JamFactory in Adelaide, SA as part of her 'Aussie Front Yard Flora' series of vases.
The bottlebrush tree in the Youngs' front yard was always present in the background of photos through my childhood. Recently, my parents have demolished and rebuilt houses on the same block, but the bottlebrush tree remains out near the footpath, unwavering. Wanting to pay homage to this constant among change, I designed a 'bud vase' with a 'roller wrap' of colour, spun onto the glass while it's a small bubble. The red lines represent the bottlebrush flower.
To expand on this idea, I've considered other iconic and common plants to represent in these vases, some of which were removed in the demolition of my childhood home. The yellow wrap illustrates a banksia, green is eucalyptus, purple is lavender, and white is a daisy. Yellow dots portray wattle, red dots depict the waratah, green dots are jade, purple is jacaranda, and white is agapanthus.
Emma Young is South Australian born & bred, often making local references in her glass artwork. Working out of the JamFactory glass studio, Emma enjoys exploring different techniques with each new developing work. Themes often involve nostalgia, pride in local icons, and personal childhood memories. She can be followed online @emmayoungglass
Multiples available
Professional photography by Michael Haines, Pippy Mount, Rosina Possingham and Matt Byrne