Music and art meet through a glass brightly

A new exhibition in Cork shows the diversity of glass as an artistic medium, writes John Tynan

MUSICIANS Liam Ó Maonlaoí and Peter O’Toole of Hothouse Flowers don’t immediately spring to mind when you encounter the bulbous upturned glass pieces and their slender tubes at Solas: An exhibition of contemporary Irish Glass in the CIT Wandesford Quay Gallery in Cork.

Strange to look at, what’s even more odd is that they are musical instruments. The work of renowned glass artist Róisín de Buitléar, they were first conceived during a residency at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, resulting in a harmonious relationship with the Flowers duo.