About Neil

Neil Wilkin’s passion for glassblowing and an enduring love of landscape and what forms it, have been the driving forces behind a lifetime of making. This deep connection to the natural world is central to his work.

Neil states that “...the geology beneath our feet shapes and colours our environment in so many ways. My travels in Madagascar and Australia as well as across the British Isles have yielded a wealth of inspiration, geological as well as flora and fauna”.

He uses glass and the processes that form it to explore, celebrate and reflect the richness and extraordinary diversity around him. The colours he uses, hard and soft, absorbing and transmitting light, inform his work both physically and aesthetically. In recent years Neil has harnessed the optical qualities of solid glass in combination with the fluid richness of hot glass to explore new perspectives. He fabricates stainless steel to create larger, site specific installations, both indoor and outdoor.

Neil’s work is found in public and private collections around the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, Hepworth Wakefield and Crafts Council Collection in the UK.

You can see a more complete history of Neil’s work below in his biography/CV.

BIOGRAPHY / CV

Current ExhibitionS

2023 A Splash of Colour, Makers Guild, Craft in the Bay, Cardiff
2023 Flower Garden, Hannah Peschar Sculpture Gardens, Surrey
2023 Summer Sculpture Trail, Upton Castle Gardens, Pembrokeshire
2023 Sculpture at Beaulieu, National Motor Museum, Hampshire
2023 Summer Exhibition, Rachel Bebb Contemporary, Hampshire
2023 Art for Cure, Helmingham Hall Gardens, Suffolk

Solo Exhibitions

2005 Bloom, FORM, Contemporary Art & Design, Perth, Australia
2002 Arte Moda Maastricht, The Netherlands
2002 The Walled Town Garden, Bohun Gallery, Oxfordshire
1999 Glas Galerie Leerdam, Leerdam, The Netherlands
1997 Glas Galerie Leerdam, Leerdam, The Netherlands

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023 Harvest: Fruit Gathering (Cynhaeaf Casglu Ffwythau) with Rachael Woodman. Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire
2023 Harvest: Fruit Gathering (Cynhaeaf Casglu Ffwythau) with Rachael Woodman. National Glass Centre
2022 Harvest: Fruit Gathering (Cynhaeaf Casglu Ffwythau) with Rachael Woodman. Ruthin Craft Centre
2022 Ruthin Craft Centre at COLLECT 2022, Somerset House, London
2022 Fresh AIR Sculpture, Quenington, Gloucestershire
2022 Cynhaeaf Casglu Ffrwythau (Harvest Fruit Gathering), Ruthin Craft Centre
2022 Sculpture at Doddington, Lincolnshire
2021 Ruthin Craft Centre at COLLECT 2021
2021 Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Summer Exhibition
2021 Sculpture at Beaulieu, Hampshire
2021 London Glassblowing,The 45th Anniversary Invitational Exhibition
2020 Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden Surrey
2020 The Garden Gallery, Hampshire
2020 Sculpture at Doddington, Lincolnshire
2019 Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Surrey
2019 The Garden Gallery, Hampshire.
2019 Adrian Sassoon, TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2018 Adrian Sassoon, Masterpiece London, The Royal Chelsea Hospital, London
2018 ‘Lasting Impressions’ exhibition, National Craft & Design Gallery, Kilkenny Ireland
2018 ‘Lasting Impressions’ exhibition, Ruthin Craft Centre, Wales
2017 Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Surrey
2017 The Garden Gallery, Hampshire
2016 Art in the Garden, Savill Garden, Windsor Great Park
2016 Collective Genius, Vessel Gallery, London
2014 Adrian Sassoon, COLLECT, Saatchi Gallery, London
2011 Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, COLLECT, Saatchi Gallery, London
2008 Adrian Sassoon, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London
2008 Adrian Sassoon, TEFAF, Maastricht, The Netherlands
2008 Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, COLLECT, V&A Museum, London
2007 Adrian Sassoon, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London
2007 Adrian Sassoon, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London
2007 Fresh Air, The Quenington Sculpture Trust, Gloucestershire
2007 Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Ockley, Surrey
2006 Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, COLLECT, V&A Museum, London
2006 London Adrian Sassoon, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London
2006 Naturally Formed, Goss Gallery, Dallas, Texas, USA
2006 Adrian Sassoon, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London
2005 Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, COLLECT, V&A Museum, London
2005 Adrian Sassoon, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London
2005 Adrian Sassoon, The International Art + Design Fair, New York, USA
2004 Adrian Sassoon, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London
2004 Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, COLLECT, V&A Museum, London
2004 Oisterwijk Sculptuur, The Netherlands
2004 Adrian Sassoon, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London
2004 Adrian Sassoon, The International Art + Design Fair, New York, USA
2004 Adrian Sassoon, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London
2004 Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, COLLECT, V&A Museum, London
2004 Adrian Sassoon, London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London
2003 Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, SOFA, Chicago, USA
2003 Adrian Sassoon, The International Art + Design Fair, New York, USA
2003 Westonbirt International Festival of Gardens, The National Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
2003 Adrian Sassoon, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London
2003 Density & Light, Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Ockley, Surrey
2003 Adrian Sassoon, ART2003, Business Design Centre, London
2003 Nature & Landscape, Glass House, La Maison du Verre, France
2002 CONNECTIONS, Five artists from The Netherlands & UK, Cowdy Gallery, Gloucester
2002 Etienne & Van den Doel, PAN Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2002 The International Westonbirt Festival of Gardens, The National Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
2002 Crafts Council, SOFA, Chicago, USA
2002 Glass Art Gallery, London
2002 Etienne & Van den Doel, Den Haag, The Netherlands
2002 Boulevard des Sculptures, Kijkduin Beach Resort, Den Hague, The Netherlands
2002 Nakashima, Neil Wilkin, Centrum Goed Werk, Belgium
2002 Etienne & Van den Doel, Holland Art Fair, The Netherlands
2002 Window display & three new hanging sculptures in Cosmetics & Fragrances Hall, Liberty PLC, London
2002 Contemporary Decorative Arts and Design, Sotheby's, London
2002 Adrian Sassoon, ART2002, Business Design Centre, London
2002 Contemporary Glass, Galerie Laforet, Switzerland
2001 The Unexpected, Sotheby's, New York, USA
2001 Christmas Collection , Cowdy Gallery, Newent, Gloucester
2001 Crafts Council, SOFA, Chicago, USA
2001 Adrian Sassoon, The International 20th Century Arts Fair, New York, USA
2001 Embracing the Organic, Finelot, London
2001 Crafts Council Shop at the V&A, V&A Museum, London
2001 A Celebration of Glass, Cowdy Gallery, Gloucestershire
2001 Fresh Air 2001, The Quenington Sculpture Trust, Cirencester, Gloucestershire
2001 Sculpture in the Garden, Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames
2001 Boulevard des Sculptures, Kijkduin, The Netherlands
2001 Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden, Surrey
2001 Seeds of Change, Glass Galerie Leerdam, The Netherlands
2001 Four Approaches to Glass, Six Chapel Row Gallery, Bath
2001 Out Moded: Fantasy, Fun and Function Outdoors, Sotheby’s, London
2001 Sextet, The Finelot Gallery, London
2001 Adrian Sassoon, Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair, London
2001 Adrian Sassoon, ART2001, Business Design Centre, London
2000 Adrian Sassoon, The Fine Art and Antiques Fair, Olympia, London
2000 Spring Open, National Glass Centre, Sunderland
2000 Adrian Sassoon, ART2000, Business Design Centre, London
1999 Adrian Sassoon, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London
1999 Adrian Sassoon, The Fine Art and Antiques Fair, Olympia, London
1999 Adrian Sassoon, ART99, Business Design Centre, London
1999 25 Years of Contemporary British Craft – Part 2, Crafts Council Shop, V&A Museum, London
1999 Kunst RAI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1999 Cutting Edge, Oxford Gallery, London
1999 Decadence, Crafts Council, London
1998 Adrian Sassoon, The International Ceramics Fair & Seminar, London
1998 Adrian Sassoon, The Fine Art and Antiques Fair, Olympia, London
1998 Adrian Sassoon, ART98, Business Design Centre, London
1998 Crafts Council, London
1998 Glass UK, National Glass Centre, Sunderland
1998 Six of the Best, Six Chapel Row, Bath
1998 Decorative Arts, Sotheby's, London
1996 Artizana, Prestbury, Cheshire
1996 Summer Show, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
1995 Etienne & Van den Doel, Den Haag, The Netherlands
1995 Glas Galerie Leerdam, Leerdam, The Netherlands
1995 Hot Glass - Cold Glass, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
1994 Goldsmith Cardell, Cincinnati, USA
1994 Summer Show, Galerie L, Hamburg, Germany
1993 The Glass Show, Crafts Council, London
1990 Dartington Crystal Editions, Thomas Goode, London
1987 Arte Em Vidro, Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo, Brazil
1987 Gloden Fra Bornholm, Bornholm Museum, Denmark
1987 Clear Through to the Wood, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
1986 British Artists in Glass, Liberty's, London
1986 Contemporary Glass by Five Bath Artists, Glass Designs, Bath

Awards

2001 Sotheby’s Design Award
1993 South West Arts Craft Award

Public Collections

Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol
Crafts Council, London
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Cultureel Centrum De Adelberg, Stad Lommel, Belgium
Glasmuseum alter Hof Herding, Coesfeld, Germany
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Selected Commissions

2018 Cherry Blossom installation Grantley Hall, Yorkshire
2015 Chandelier; private commission, London
2015 Cat Tails, glass and stainless steel installation, main entrance, Whitburgh House, Midlothian
2014 Chandelier, corporate head office foyer, Kiev, Ukraine
2012 Spiders, 5 large glass specimens, Natural History Museum of Denmark
2011 A Garden by Night, glass and stainless steel installation, RHS Hampton Court show garden by Kari Beardsell
2011 Kenwood Tree, glass and stainless steel light installation, private commission, Hampshire
2010 Chandeliers for private dwelling, Bath
2007 2 chandeliers for the Radiotherapy Department, Leeds Teaching Hospital, NHS Trust
2007 14 Flowers and glass and stainless steel tree - 3 meters high, The Grove, Hertfordshire
2005 2 chandeliers, 3 wild flowers and 3 glass and stainless steel Sculptures, Cotswold House Hotel Glass and stainless steel Sculpture, Grosvenor Estate, London
2004 Asprey Purple and Clear Range, London
2004 Chandelier, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Head Office, Windsor
2004 3 seed heads and 6 glass and stainless steel Sculptures, Restaurant Lobby, Four Seasons Hotel
2003 11 chandeliers and 2 Sculptures in Acrylic and Stainless Steel, for P&O cruise liner ‘Arcadia’
2002 3 hanging sculptures for Regent Street building refurbishment, Libertys, London
2001 Fish, installation, deck 11, Adventure of the Seas LCA Corporate Art Ltd
1998 2000 Eyes, Pair of 2 metre high cut crystal and silver vases, Asprey, London
1994 Crystal Fountain, 2 meters high for Thomas Goode, London

Selected Publications

2023 Neues Glas, Cynhaef Casglu Ffrwy thau; Harvest Fruit gathering – Exhibition Review, Neues Glas Magazine, 1/2023
2022 Contemporary Glass Society, Cynhaef Casglu Ffrwy thau; Harvest Fruit gathering – Exhibition Review by Peter Bremers, CGS Glass Network Magazine, issue 81 Nov 2022
2021 The English Garden Magazine, Issue 7/2021
2021 CRAFTS COUNCIL STORIES: 8 UK outdoor sculpture trails to explore this summer, 14 July 2021
2019 The best in craft: four artist-makers to see at Collect, The Art Society, 5 Feb 2019
2018 Lasting the course at the National Design & Craft Gallery, Irish Examiner, 9 June 2018
2017 Beautiful Water Features Create a Calm and Therapeutic Centrepiece for a Home, International Property & Travel, 25 May 2017
2011 How to Spend It, Financial Times, issue 257
2007 Garden Design Journal May 2007 Front Cover and pages30-31
2007 Gardens Illustrated, July 2007
2007 Crafts Magazine, March/April, ‘Every Surface Covered’
2007 Charmian Adams – pg 49
2007 World of Interiors, June 2007
2007 Bentley Magazine, June 2007
2007 Peter Bremers, book ‘Icebergs’ text Dan Kein, ISBN/EAN; 978-90-805511-4-5
2005 English Garden Magazine, May 2005
2004 Somerset Life, January Sunday Telegraph, March 2004
2004 25 Beautiful Gardens, June 2004
2003 Craft Arts International, Australia, Issue 56, Feature pages 32 - 40
2003 The Art of Priors Court School, Dame Stephanie Shirley Collection by Ann Elliott, Bohun Gallery, Limited Edition
2002 Fashionable London Stores, Crafts July/August 2002, Page 18
2002 Crafts May/June 2002, Pages 38 & 58
2002 Bath Magazine, Issue 2, November 2002, Front cover Blue Flower plus feature page 14
2002 Crafts Arts International, Issue 56, October/November 2002, mentioned on front cover, plus feature Glass in the Garden pages 32-36, plus feature 105-106
2002 Western Daily Press, Culture Section, Thursday 24th October 2002, A Glass Act: Artists go on Show, page 28 showing the Golden Cactus
2002 Financial Times Colour Weekend Superior Interiors supplement, Issue93, October 2002 Snail eye featured Index page, main mixed advertisement blue snail eye featured
2002 The Sunday Times, Style Magazine, June 2nd 2002, Into the Light editorial, showing dewdrop, gold seed head and ground icicles, page 35
2002 Western Daily Press, West Life Section, Wednesday 22 May 2002, A Glassy Act editorial
2002 The Independent Magazine, Saturday 18 May 2002, It’s Showtime, editorial covering the new horticultural exhibition at Westonbirt shows, Sun Catchers, Pages 34-35
2002 Telegraph Magazine, 16th March 2002, What’s New, editorial showing the liberty chandelier, page 75
2002 Crafts Magazine, No.178, article Hardy Perennials Glass by Ruth Pavey
2002 Country Life magazine, 8th August, cover photo, and article, Westonbirt Festival
2002 The Garden Journal of the RHS vol 127 part 8 p.618-621. 'Splashes and new waves'
2002 Studio Glass 1960-2000, Graham McLaren 2002, Shire Publications Ltd. ISBN 074780527X Objects by Catherine Coleman, 1996 p26, Peter Dreiser, 1989, p27, David Prytherch, 1993, p27, Morag Gordon p28, Anna Dickinson, 1999, p34, Jane Beebe 1989 p34 and Ronald Pennell 1997, p44, all blown by Neil Wilkin. Also Aurelia Chandelier' by Neil Wilkin, p33
2002 25 Beautiful Gardens, Pages 48 & 75, Spring 2002
2002 Glass Art 2002 Georgina Fantoni
2002 ARS kalenda 2002, Peter Bremers
2001 At Home with Janice Blackburn, New York Times, Nov 29
2001 The shapes of glass, Eye to Eye magazine, No 2/200, article
2001 Seeds of Change, Uitgeverij Glaswerk, Leerdam, ISBN 9080370622
2001 RSVP Magazine article, Jaargang 3, number 2, pg 74-77
2001 Art-nl Magazine article, Jaargang 2 nr 3, pg 72-73
2001 Origine Kunst en Antiek Magazine article, number 3/2001, pg 20-21
2001 A Touch of Glass, Financial Times, February 17
2001 Alice Rawsthorn, exhibition review
2001 Getting Down to Glass Roots, Country Life, February 15 2001
2001 Amicia de Mowbray, Glass Art 2001, Georgina Fantoni
2000 Profile Neil Wilkin, Glass-Blower, Gardens Illustrated, October issue
2000 Johannes von Stumm, catalogue, Curwen Gallery, London
2000 Shades of Pale, Menno Jonker, The Netherlands
2000 Metamorphosis, Peter Bremers, The Netherlands ISBN 90805511 1 2
1999 Glass, Floris Meydam, Glas Galerie Leerdam, The Netherlands
1999 The Transparent Body, Winnie Teschmacher, The Netherlands
1999 Executive magazine article, Unieke glasexpositie
1999 Floris Meydam en Neil Wilkin’, p.129
1999 Hot Spot, Peter Bremers, This Side Up magazine, No.8 , p.8
1998 Glass UK: British Contemporary Glass; National Glass Centre, Sunderland, exhibition catalogue entry
1998 Frans Molenaar, Haute Verrerie, The Netherlands
1997 Neil Wilkin Solo, exhibition catalogue, Glas Galerie Leerdam, The Netherlands
1997 Floris Meydam Designer, Uitgeverij Glaswerk, The Netherlands ISBN 90803706 1 4
1997 Anna Dickinson, Edition Galerie von Bartha, Basel Winnie Teschmacher, See Through, The Netherlands
1997 Kunstwerk magazine No.9/3 article, ‘Peter Bremers - De Omzwervingen van Parsifal’, p.14
1996 A Blow for Independence, Crafts Magazine, No. 138
1996 International New Glass, Venice exhibition catalogue British Glass Now Neues Glas
1995 Review of 100 Artists Glass Art, by Peter Layton
1995 Crystal Clear, Thomas Goode magazine, Vol 1
1993 Contemporary British Glass, Crafts Council exhibition catalogue, interview with Penny Sparke
1993 Neues Glass, Anna Dickinson
1992 Heart of Glass, Crafts Magazine No. 118
1991 Premier Glass, Crafts Magazine No. 110 Dartington Crystal Editions, Tableware International
1990 Dartington Crystal Annual Catalogue
1987 Clear Through to the Wood, exhibition catalogue entry
1987 Arte Em Vidro, exhibition catalogue entry
1985 Double Act, Crafts Magazine, No. 75