Moss, ferns, twigs and leaves snake around the coloured glass forms, and over in the smokestack, a jaw-droppingly beautiful chandelier has seemingly produced tiny flowers from glass teardrops.
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A botanical something has taken over the gallery space at Canberra Glassworks, just in time for Floriade.
Fresh Glass is a new take on one of the most functional forms of glass – the humble vase – and pairs studio glass vessels and sculptures with botanical installations.
A series of Canberra-based florists has responded to the works of 10 glass artists with a variety of fresh and preserved botanical creations.
Artist Ben Edols, who created blade-like shapes in brilliant green with his partner in life and art Kathy Edols, was on hand on Wednesday as curator Narelle Phillips put the finishing touches on the works.
He pronounced himself thrilled with the results.
"It's almost like the glass has come out of the ground, and the plants are growing around it," he said, of the snaking ferns and fronds, designed by Braddon florist sensations Moxom + Whitney.
Phillips, herself a trained florist with works in the show, said floral arranging was coming into its own as an art form.
"I think it's becoming more and more so. There are some amazing florists working in Australia but particularly overseas, Europe, London and Germany – they are huge sculptural installations, they're not a bunch of flowers in a vase," she said.
"I think one of the great things about this exhibition is that it might give people a little bit of insight into what it could be, what the potential is, and that's how I pitched it to the floral designers as well – here's an opportunity to actually get your work in a gallery."
From ceramic flowers sprouting from pieces of timber on the wall, to glass bell-jars filled with succulents and surrounded by hanging moss, the possibilities for such a collaboration seem endless.
But, in the spirit of Canberra's yearly celebration of flowers, the traditional flowers-in-a-vase approach hasn't been ignored, with artist Harriet Schwarzrock's vessels filled with luscious floral arrangements from Tuggeranong florist Pauline Moule, of Bloomin' Mad Flowers.
"Glass can be considered a very high form, but then it's also got the very utilitarian domestic aspect to it, where people just want to put a beautiful bunch of spring flowers in a vessel to enjoy in their home," Phillips said.
"There's a bit of everything in the show and I definitely had that in mind when I was putting it together. And there's nothing wrong with having a beautiful piece of glass and just filling it with flowers – it's great."
Fresh Glass at Canberra Glassworks opened on September 15 and runs until October 30.
