Five Minutes with ... Amanda Dziedzic

Amanda Dziedzic with a collection of her works, Photo: sourced from Craft Victoria

Amanda Dziedzic is a Melbourne-based glass artist who uses hot glass to create meaningful, colourful and aesthetic glass works. We sit down to chat with Amanda about her career, inspirations and connection to JamFactory.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became interested in glass as a medium?

My name is Amanda Dziedzic and I am a glass artist who works predominantly in hot glass. Growing up in South Australia, JamFactory was well ingrained into me from a young age. I can remember taking a school excursion to see the glass blowers in action and man did I think they were cool…I’m not saying I based my whole working life on the idea of being cool, but as an already arts focused teenager, they made an impression. I then studied a Bachelor of Visual Arts at UniSA and got to take an elective under the wonderful Gabriella Bisetto. The rest really snowballed from there. I later studied glass full time at Monash University and then came back to Adelaide once I was awarded an Associateship at JamFactory.

In 2008/2009 you completed the Associate Program in the Glass Studio at JamFactory, can you tell us about your experience and some key things you were able to learn from this time and place?

I can honestly say my time at JamFactory as an Associate in the Glass Studio has been instrumental in the shaping of my identity as a glass artist. JamFactory is where I learned skill, the value of community and the work ethic to not only strive but succeed as a glass artist. My time was headed up by Deb Jones, Christine Cholewa and Tom Moore, with Nick Mount in a mentorship role. I think that trio really helped to mould who I am now, through design, technical skill development and most importantly, humour and love. I can also add that it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but also the most incredible and rewarding thing that I will be forever grateful for. As an Associate you are exposed to such a varied and vibrant community. It is a once in a lifetime experience. Once a Jammer, always a Jammer. I not only made some of my most longstanding work, but friendships for life. The JamFactory hotshop feels like home.

Amanda Dziedzic in the glass studio, photo: courtesy of the artist

Amanda Dziedzic, *Glass Garden Series,* photo: courtesy of the artist

In 2019, you, along with Laurel Kohut, founded HotHaus, a glass studio located in Heidelberg West. Can you tell us about the studio and how this venture came to fruition?

Since I moved back to Melbourne, Laurel and I had been working together in small studios all over Melbourne. As my output began to grow, it became evident that to grow further and keep up with demand, we needed our own studio. We wanted to be able to blow as much glass as we needed to and not be at the demand of another’s studio. We looked for a long time, deliberated A LOT and eventually we found the right space and took the jump (me with a 1.5-year-old at the time…terrifying!).

Laurel and I have weathered quite a lot of hardships in this time. We built our own furnace right smack bang in the beginning of the pandemic, moved studios entirely, and have both had babies in that time. Working as women and mothers is no easy feat, but overall, I am incredibly proud of all we have accomplished as HotHaus. We have numerous production lines, manufacture for other designers, run a team of glassblowers and are now looking to expand into classes for the community and provide residency programs for our peers.

What is your main inspiration for your works and how has this evolved over time?

Nature. Nature is my main inspiration. In particular plant life and flowers. I tend to use nature as a vehicle for memory. A certain flower will spark a memory of a person for me and then I can use that spark to elaborate on. If I am thinking in terms of evolution, perhaps I have begun to think about nature in a broader way of looking at things. For example, I am quite taken with elements at the moment. I look to the clouds, think about air as an element.

“My time at JamFactory as an Associate in the Glass Studio has been instrumental in the shaping of my identity as a glass artist”

— Amanda dziedzic

Your work, Barba Rosa, is featured in JamFactory’s 50th Anniversary exhibition, GOLD: 50 Years 50 JamFactory Alumni. What do you hope the audience takes away from the exhibition?

I hope that the audience will see what a vast array of talent JamFactory has nurtured and housed for 50 years. How many incredible individuals have walked through these doors, have started their creative practices here and are still involved in the JamFactory today. It is a monumental achievement, and I am extremely honoured to be included in a little piece of its history.