Combining painted panels with planes of kiln-fired glass, Kate Clements examines the idea of fragility in art. She describes glass as a material defined by its capacity to hold tension – it can break, shatter, or change at any moment. That awareness of impermanence has remained a subtle current throughout her practice, an ever-present sense of unease beneath the surface. Take a closer look at her glass work featuring flowery, planty, and animal figures.
In Kate Clements’ Work, Glass Blossoms and Wings Take Shape
Clements uses frit, a granular material, to create shapes like leaves, insects, and birds that are then placed straight onto a kiln shelf. She applies these thematic drawings to painted panels or suspends them in installations after they fuse into wafer-thin panels when fired. The artist experiments with the links between stiffness and fluidity as well as the artificial and the organic, frequently using patterns reminiscent of wallpaper and motifs that allude to architectural structures or niches.
She shares:
“The material has become almost an extension of my hand and my body through mark-making and scale. The process is quite meditative. It’s about precision and intuition coexisting—knowing how to shape the material and when to let the glass move on its own terms in the kiln.”
Tension and Transformation in Glass
The versatility of the art, combined with its inherent unpredictability, continues to draw Clement's attention, particularly the tension between control and risk. Like any material fired in a kiln, glass can react in unexpected ways or transform differently than anticipated. When assembled into large-scale works through a process the artist likens to collage, the thin panels appear extraordinarily delicate, resembling sugar sculptures, as if they might crumble or break with the slightest touch.
Kate working on a piece from scratch
In earlier works, Kate explored this sense of unease, drawn to the way glass can evoke anxiety – the precarious beauty that could, at any moment, shift or collapse. The instability in these pieces reflected the world around her: fascinating, dangerous, and unpredictable simultaneously. More recent works expand on this sensitivity while highlighting the qualities of the translucent medium, suspending panels from the ceiling to form compositions that bring forward feelings of fragility and architectural.
Clements’ sculpture 'Acanthus', evocative of a gleaming triumphal arch, is currently on view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art as part of the group exhibition Personal Best, which runs through August 9, 2026. The work shows Kate's exploration of materials and architectural forms, inviting viewers to experience scale and fragility in a dynamic way.
In addition to this, her new work is featured in NOCTURNES, a solo exhibition presented in the art gallery of Kansas City Community College. For further information, updates, and images, visit Kate Clement's official website and follow her on Instagram.
Photos by: @kate__clements.
