The Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery is delighted to present their first exhibition for 2025, JamFactory ICON: Jessica Loughlin – Of Light.

This exhibition is a captivating celebration of light, space and the artistry of glass that is now open to the public following Friday night’s official launch.

Jessica Loughlin, one of Australia’s most acclaimed glass artists, has spent over 25 years crafting ethereal, kiln-formed glass artworks inspired by the serene beauty of South Australia’s salt lakes, including Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and Lake Gairdner. Her minimalist aesthetic and innovative approach to light, space, and emptiness offer viewers a profound sense of stillness and contemplation.

Known for her understated aesthetic, Loughlin takes her artistic cues from the vast, flat landscapes and salt lakes of South Australia. To me, the Australian landscape is defined by its vast space and a sense of distance,’ Loughlin said. Rarely filled with water, the minimalist landscapes of these remote salt lakes seemingly fuse land and sky as one infinite plain that completely immerses the viewer on a physical, emotional and spiritual level.

In her glass practice, Loughlin fuses kiln-formed sheets of opaque and translucent glass together in flat panels or thin geometric freestanding pieces that allude to shadow, reflection and refraction. Her work is characterised by a strict reductive sensibility and use of colour.

Despite a limited palette, Loughlin’s glass artworks contain a spectrum of colours and detail. Made of opaline glass, Loughlin’s freestanding sculptures appear milky white until they reflect light and become blue or transmit light to reveal warm orange and pink tones. While Loughlin works with the materiality of glass it is apparent that her subject is something more intangible - often focused on providing a space for contemplation and to create a sensation of space, rather than being metaphoric or narrative in nature.

The exhibition is accompanied by ‘’Jessica Loughlin: From Here’’, a 183-page hard-cover monograph co-published by JamFactory and Wakefield Press, featuring essays by Julie Ewington and Tina Oldknow.

JamFactory ICON Jessica Loughlin: of light is a JamFactory touring exhibition assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory board. Jessica Loughlin acknowledges the support of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet through an Arts South Australia Grant.

We look forward to sharing this remarkable experience with you.

Image Credit 

Jessica Loughlin with receptor of light ix, 2018, kilnformed and handground glass, 446 x 645 x 62 mm. Photographer: Rachel Harris