Karlyn Sutherland is an artist, designer and practice-based researcher whose work examines the bond between people and place, with a particular focus on the transformative potential of creativity in relation to our sense of identity. Using glass as her primary medium, she draws upon her background in architecture to create optical illusions of space, with her work playing a pivotal role in the development of her academic research, and vice-versa.
Sutherland studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art (B.Arch. (Hons), 2007; Dip.Arch., 2008; M.Arch., 2008) and the University of Edinburgh (Ph.D., 2014), where she received multiple awards and was also employed as a design tutor and research assistant. She was a 2016 Endeavour Research Fellow in the Glass Workshop of the Australian National University, Canberra, the recipient of the 32nd Rakow Commission at Corning Museum of Glass in 2017, and the winner of the 2018 Craft Scotland Prize for Design and Craftsmanship. She was named as a 2019-20 Fulbright Scholar (with the program placed on hold due to COVID-19) and is due to begin a period of practice-based research at Corning Museum of Glass in July 2021. She is currently an Adjunct Professor within the MFA program at Alberta College of the Arts, Calgary, Canada.
Sutherland’s work is held in the collections of Glasmuseum Lette – Alter Hof Herding (Coesfeld, Germany), Corning Museum of Glass (NY, USA) and National Museums Scotland (Edinburgh, UK). She is represented by Heller Gallery, New York City, New York, and Bullseye Projects, Portland, Oregon.
Central to my work, both in glass and architecture, is a long-standing interest in the bond between people and place; my practice explores this dialogue, with a particular focus on the characteristics of space that shape our memories and sense of attachment to our environment. Glass is an evocative material, able to readily convey atmosphere, emotion and narrative; it has the ability to reveal memories, generate associations and encourage the imagination in other mediums often cannot. My work in glass is both autobiographical in nature and an extension of the sensibilities and skills I have honed as an architectural designer; it is a reaction to vivid memories and intangible qualities of significant moments and places, with each piece distilling and communicating the essence of an experience of light, shadow and atmosphere. The haptic, hands-on act of making is contemplative – a tool which allows me to explore, strengthen and learn from my own relationship with and understanding of place.
