Whitby glassmaker Jo Kenny on her beach-inspired exhibition in York and reflection on past for next work

The glassmaker tells The Yorkshire Post that she is considering starting work based on her experience of having cancer in her pre-university years.

Kenny had Non-Hodgkin lymphoma and required surgery to have a tumour removed.

She says that her tough experience resulted in her creating work at university in response to what she had been through when she studied Glass and Ceramics at Sunderland University in the 1980s.

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But at that point, she didn’t want to explain the personal significance of the work to tutors and fellow students and now hopes to revisit the theme more openly and with the benefit of decades more experience in her chosen field.

Kenny, who now splits her time between teaching and creating art, explains: “They were directly related to my experience of being ill but I never told anybody what they were about.

"My tutor liked the pieces but it drove him crazy that he didn’t know where the inspiration had come from.

"The process involves blowing a piece and it looks pretty but then I butcher it like the doctors had to butcher me. For my glass to heal, it has to go back into the heat after it had been cut to bits. I found it very cathartic. It was taking something and damaging it to build it back up again.

"I would really like to do things like that again but now with a lot of years of experience behind me.”

She says that after the pandemic in recent years, she feels more about to talk about what she went through and hopes her potential new work would be comforting to others.

Her current What Lies Beneath exhibition in York also indirectly came out of the pandemic.

The exhibition opened on January 27 and is running until later this week, with the final day falling on February 7.

It showcases 26 pieces of work that have come out of a special collaboration with Scottish glass-cutter and polisher Gordon Taylor, with the work have won Arts Council funding.

The work was inspired by Kenny delving into Whitby’s rock pools during Covid.

She says it has been wonderful to see the reaction of people who have visited the exhibition – with a famous friend among those giving the thumbs to the work.

Saxon guitarist Paul Quinn was among those who attended the opening.

Kenny says: “The exhibition has been going really well and the opening was really good fun. The place was absolutely heaving and it was so busy you could barely move.

"Gordon [Taylor] and his wife came down and stayed in York, which was lovely as they hadn’t been before and they had a great time.

"Paul Quinn was there and that was lovely to as Gordon had no idea he was going to be there and he was excited to meet him.”

She adds: “The feedback since then has been really positive.

"There are 26 pieces and the gallery has sold six so far with interest in a couple of the other pieces too.

"The whole thing has been a blast from start to finish. It has also led onto quite a few other bits and pieces so it is nice it has had a knock-on effect.”

Last month, Kenny gave a presentation about her work and ran a stall at the Whitby Steampunk Show while she has been in talks about running an Access to Art session with the Pannett Art Gallery in Whitby in summer.

She is also planning to make use of a new glass studio that is in the process of being established in Huddersfield by fellow glass artist Asha Diveney-Clegg.

While the site is still being set up, Kenny hopes she will be able to use the location on a regular basis for her work as well as offering glass-making experiences from the studio.

Having previously lived in Oxford before moving to Whitby, she currently makes use of a studio there so says the idea of travelling to Huddersfield from the North Yorkshire coast is not something that will be an issue.

"At the moment I am going twice a month to Oxford so Huddersfield is not a lot,” she explains.

Kenny also says she is keen to work with Gordon Taylor again after their fruitful partnership on the What Lies Beneath collection.

She had called in for his help with the cutting and polishing of the pieces she made to get them up to the desired standard and realise her vision for the work.

After securing Arts Council funding for their work, they began the project with Kenny posting her work off to his home studio in Perthshire to complete it. Taylor told The Yorkshire Post in September that being involved in the project had been deeply fulfilling.

"It is quite exciting because I restore antique glass,” he said at the time. “This is a different ball game altogether.”

Kenny says she is hopeful they can renew their partnership if the right project comes along.

"It is going to be a while but having met him and worked with him, I will have to work with him again."

She says she does not feel entirely done with the What Lies Beneath concept.

"It has been brilliant to get the range up and running and exhibit things but seeing it on display in the gallery and seeing people’s reactions to it has made me think I want to go ahead and do some more."

What Lies Beneath runs at Th Pyramid Gallery until February 7. Visit https://www.pyramidgallery.com/