Mariel Waddell-Hunter

Mariel Waddell Hunter is an award-winning glass artist. She graduated from Hot Glass Forming at Sheridan College School of Craft and Design. In 2005 she received the Betty Kantor Award and the Summer Residency Scholarship from the Harbourfront Center in Toronto.

Mariel is co-owner and glassblower at the Kingston Glass Studio & Gallery in Kingston, Ontario with husband and fellow glassblower Alexi Hunter. Her work can be found in galleries, public collections, private collections and museums including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Corning Museum of Glass.

“My native islands, Trinidad and Tobago, have always inspired me. The experience of living in these centers of natural beauty has been the main foundation for my artistic vision.

I use a combination of thickness and temperature which allows me to create pieces with multifaceted appearance and reflective effects, creating movement in my work. By trailing and sculpting molten bits of glass, I attempt to capture the beauty and essence of water and life within the ocean. The malleable quality of glass provides the ideal medium for sculptural representations of liquid movement and ocean currents.

I have been researching different species of coral and marine invertebrates and am aesthetically drawn to reef animals that grow in clusters and that demonstrate repetitive patterns and varying textures. Canadian-based themes are explored in my ‘Glacial Woods’ series based on imagery of a forest in winter. Although these works draw upon my experience in Canada, water remains at the root of my artistic expression.” – M. Waddell-Hunter