Laura Donefer: Amulet Baskets

About

Celebrated for her innovative and exuberant blown glass pieces, award-winning visual artist Laura Donefer likes to push the boundaries of her work, exploring ideas around memory, joy, and madness.

In Amulet Baskets, a series she created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Donefer uses blasts of colour to induce joy, reinforcing the spirit of joie de vivre in people’s lives. Throughout her career, she has always attempted to create heartfelt pieces full of unbridled passion, creating something new outside of traditional glassmaking.

Curated by Melanie Egan.

Colourful artwork with different sharp objects and colour. — *CARNAVALE AMULET BASKET. Blown glass and flameworked glass* (Photo by Stephen Wild).

A close-up shot of colourful sharp points. — *CARNAVALE AMULET BASKET detail. Blown glass and flameworked glass* (Photo by Stephen Wild).

Close-up of colourful paint and glasswork. — *CARNAVALE AMULET BASKET detail. Blown glass and flameworked glass* (Photo by Stephen Wild).

Curatorial Statement

“It is not unusual to hear a plethora of superlatives when describing Laura Donefer and her work. Exuberance, zaniness, extraordinary, spectacular, risk-taker, boundary-pusher and even diva.  

Suffice it to say she has been an inimitable force in the international glass community for close to forty years! Her career is expansive and a testament to the impact she has had on the glass community worldwide, whether as an artist, teacher, mentor, curator, organizer or advocate. This exhibition comprises a dynamic collection of her signature Amulet Baskets that have brought joy to many. ”

– Melanie Egan, Director of Craft & Design, Harbourfront Centre

About Laura Donefer

An award-winning international artist, Laura Donefer has spent more than three decades devoted to the art of glass, teaching, lecturing and promoting Canadian glass artists around the world.

She has been faculty at Sheridan College and Espace Verre in Montreal and has given workshops at the Corning Museum in New York, the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington State and the Penland School in North Carolina, to name a few places. Among Donefer’s numerous career highlights are teaching in Japan and Australia and a stint as an Artist-in-Residence in New Zealand.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, at the Hokkaido Museum in Japan, the Museo de Vidrio in Mexico, the Museum of Fine Art in Montreal, the Museum of Art and Design in New York, the Corning Museum of Glass and the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington.