Family Souvenirs and Other Dark Things by Ian Mowbray

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Ian Mowbray

Ian Mowbray was one of the first studio glass Artists in Australia and this exhibition captures his wicked sense of humour and darkness and his exploration of the glass material and the breadth of his technical skills.
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The Family Souvenirs are my family’s collection of their body parts. Instead of a family photo album or keepsakes, we have decided to keep everything that has been discarded from operations, misadventure and autopsies, also bottling the cause of ones death, such as “My Fathers Aorta”. They have been meticulously placed in specimen jars so they can be studied by the whole family. The idea is that this collection has been running over a century hence so many foreskins in the Foreskins jar. Each individual family member contributes to the collection. I like to play with things like sex and death. They are all sort of taboo subjects and a big taboo subject was always family. So the family souvenirs are basically a series of specimen jars with carved body parts in them. Keeping all the pieces that have been cut off the body for you families history. Instead of the photo album.
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Also exhibited will be a collection of Ian's block objects using the technique he pioneered and developed plunge-casting.  As well as a collection of the dark, rude, repelling and humorous Snow Domes, with titles such as So hard to keep hold of a good woman and Yes this is all my baggage which Ian says relates to lovers baggage After complaining about lovers baggage I decided I should pile up mine to see if there is much. Apart from some skeletons and very rotten cases, I was happy with the smallish amount. I suspect this isn’t the last’. There are also a number of Ian’s beautiful ‘Spine’ pieces, which are hand carved and fit together meticulously like a 3-dimensional puzzle. 
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With all of Ian's pieces, he painstakingly executes each piece by hand carving the glass to form figures or parts of the body, a process which takes considerable time.  Ian is one of the first Studio Glass Artists in Australia and paved a pathway many have been drawn to in their practice and career.