For Mirror shift (doubled) Rosslynd Piggott presents a part of the second body of engraved glass works made with master engraver, Maurizio Vidal who is based at a traditional mirror making factory, Ongaro e Fuga on Murano, Venice. Piggott has been visiting and working in Murano over several Winters from 2012- 2016 first of all working with Berengo studio to produce an opulent series of blown glass vessels to capture air at the famed Giardino di Ninfa, south of Rome. At this time, she met and worked with Vidal to make an engraved mirror, triggering her interest in the potential of the technique of wheel engraving. In particular, the consummate skill of Vidal, a lifetime of focussed practice combined with Piggott’s detailed floral drawings, struck a new opening for both artisan and artist. These resulting innovations using traditional methods for mirror making have drawn attention in the glass community of Venice – both artisanal and curatorial, evidenced in Piggott’s invitation to stage an exhibition with VeniceArtFactory in Castello, Venice this past September.

Mirror shift (doubled) presents a move to working with handmade Murano glass in various tints from a typical Venetian pale pink, to Alessandrina (a glass that shifts between pale blue and violet in differing lights), to various saturations of gold, and also to Avventurina, the Italian term for glass infused with copper particles. The rippled edge of these coloured sheets is evidence of it’s previously liquid form as poured glass. Piggott has responded to the seductive and suggestive nature of the material and made floral drawings directly onto the glass. A further optical shift is employed when backing mirrors are positioned behind each coloured glass. One mirror is engraved and polished with lenses that warp, reflect and refract light. The other mirror remaining flat highlights the bubbled lens in the coloured glass. Perception is push-pulled across a seemingly broadened space. The viewer is compelled to find the image as it shifts and flickers resisting a static focus.