Gayle Church: Fragile

Fragile is the debut solo exhibition by Thunder Bay artist Gayle Church. Using the pâte de verre technique (French for “glass paste”), Church creates a menagerie of life-sized glass animals inspired by nature and wildlife. Innovating with material and representation, her glass sculptures are mesmerizing forms with “melting” edges, layered textures, and delicate fissures. While foxes leap and butterflies swarm, Gayle Church’s sculptural glass works inhabit a blurred reality of wild and domestic.

Opening Reception + Artist Talk:

Thursday 9, Oct @ 6:30 – 8:30

Join us for an artist talk by Thunder Bay glass artist Gayle Church. Gayle shares stories about the glass animals in her debut solo exhibition, Fragile, and her journey as one of the few glass professional artists exhibiting in Northern Ontario.

Artist Bio:

Gayle Church is an emerging glass artist based in Thunder Bay. Growing up in Northern Ontario, her work alludes to wilderness and the complex relationship humans have with the natural world. Church holds an Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts at Lakehead University (2016) and a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba (2019). In 2018, she won the Craft Ontario Pattie Walker Memorial Award, recognizing outstanding work in Architectural Glass. She has exhibited works in group exhibitions across Canada and internationally, including the International Biennale of Glass in Sofia, Bulgaria (2019) and The International Glass Exhibition at the Toyama Glass Museum, Japan (2024). Fragile is Church’s first solo exhibition in a public gallery. 

Image: Gayle Church, Find Your Space, 2018, glass. Courtesy of the artist.