My practice is an ongoing attempt to make sense of the things that are difficult to articulate. I use the body as a way of talking about intimacy, vulnerability, desire, power and the complicated spaces that exist between people. I am interested in what happens when those spaces become uncomfortable — when closeness becomes exposure, attraction becomes repulsion, or something beautiful becomes slightly difficult to look at.

I work primarily with glass, a material I am drawn to for its contradictions. It can be fragile and incredibly strong, transparent and opaque, seductive and dangerous. Through blowing, stretching, pulling and sculpting, I manipulate molten glass into forms that sit somewhere between the recognisable and the imagined. Intestines, organs, shells, breasts, mouths and other bodily fragments appear throughout my work, but they are never intended as straightforward anatomical representations. They are vessels for feelings, experiences and relationships.

I am interested in the body as both interior and exterior — what we expose, what we protect and what we keep hidden. Skin becomes a boundary; organs become evidence; shells become protection; openings become points of vulnerability. I often push these contradictions through colour and surface, making forms that are soft-looking, fleshy and almost edible, while their subject matter can be confronting.

My recent work has grown from an exploration of wā — the relational space between people — towards a more physical investigation of what happens within that space. I am increasingly interested in connection, entanglement, restraint and the traces that intimacy leaves on the body.

I want my work to be beautiful, but I also want it to make you squirm a little. I am interested in that moment when you are drawn towards something before realising you perhaps shouldn't be. For me, making is a process of being deliberately honest, even when that honesty is uncomfortable. Ultimately, I want the work to feel personal enough to be vulnerable, but strange enough that the viewer can find themselves somewhere inside it.

George went to Feilding High School before training in Whanganui in Glass Design and Production. George has exhibited in New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Australia and China. After completing the illustrious Associate Training Program at the JamFactory in Adelaide, George relocated back to New Zealand and is now based in the Manawatu. Most recently, George was a finalist in the Molly Morpeth Canaday Award and the National Contemporary Art Award, was the 2024 recipient of the New Zealand Glassworks Artist in Residence, and was selected for New Glass Review 45.