Mim Brigham
Mim Brigham is a Cornish glass artist who specialises in hot and warm glass. Her work fuses together her passion of science and art and her use of different glass techniques produces works that have abstract individuality with a literal twist. It started with a blade of Marram Grass, carefully cut to one cell thick, stained and viewed through a microscope. Mim discovered it whilst studying Biology many years ago. She was struck by its beauty then, and it remained in the back of her mind until she developed this body of work.
Mim's collection, Microscopic, has won her multiple awards including a Silver Medal at the 2018 China Glass Exhibition, and the Devon Guild of Craftsmen Design Award. Her work has been published in the Design and Craft magazine, Cornwall Today and the Contemporary Glass Society magazine following a Highly Commended award in their graduate review.
Mim undertakes a variety of commission work and welcomes any enquiry. To see her recent and upcoming shows see the exhibition page.
Inspiration
The Microscopic Collection is inspired by the marram grass that grows on the sand dunes of Cornwall. Although the dunes are next to the sea, water is scarce. Each blade of grass curls in on itself to retain as much water as possible. Under a microscope this creates a beautiful image upon which Mim bases her designs .
Designing the Microscopic Range
Mim found the image of the marram grass cross section in an old textbook. The process for making each piece is a long one:
The molten glass is coloured, heated further in a furnace before being pulled it into long rods of different widths.
Each rod has to be cooled overnight and then carefully cut.
The cut rods are arranged into the design.
The piece is put into the kiln for the glass to fuse together in a two day process. Finally it is polished and set.
Each piece is handmade and completely unique and cannot be replicated.