About Us
Our Studio Glass Workshop program in Sydney, Australia runs throughout the year from our purpose-built glass studio at Studio4 in Sydenham. Our glass studio is fully equipped with state-of-the-art glass kilns, cutting, grinding, and polishing equipment, as well as darkroom and screen printing facilities.
The studio glass workshop program was founded in 2014 by Australian contemporary artist Kate Baker. Each year the program expands to accommodate the growing needs of continuing students and now incorporates a series of masterclasses with local and visiting artists, sharing their unique technical skills and knowledge in glass.
All our studio glass workshops are conducted by professional artists with university degree level expertise or greater, specialising in Studio Glass. The program is growing to include visiting professional artists both nationally and internationally.
Kate Baker
Kate Baker is an Australian artist and art educator working primarily with studio glass. A current PhD Candidate at the ANU School or Art and Design, Kate graduated with First Class Honours from the Glass Workshop at the Australian National University School of Art (Canberra) in 1999. Kate has taught in a variety of contexts including as a lecturer and academic advisor at Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University as well as in Adult Community Education settings and as a visiting artist at national and international conferences.
Baker’s work has been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally including at the Palm Springs Art Museum, California, the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, the Alexander Tutsek Stilftung in Munich, Germany, the International Exhibition of Glass Kanazawa, Japan and the Glass Biennale in Venice, Italy. A recipient of international art prizes, scholarships and grants, her artworks are featured in collections globally.
In 2014 Kate founded Studio4 a Creative Studio Warehouse providing creative spaces for professional artists and creative businesses. The Studio Glass Workshop is housed in these premises.
Nancy Yu
NC Qin (Nancy Yu) is a Sydney based glass artist who has been practising as a professional artist and arts educator since graduating from Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney University, with a Bachelor Degree in Visual Arts (Glass) in 2015. Her university education also includes a period of study at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, where she also established a foundation in classical painting and Chinese culture.
Nancy's professional artistic practice embodies a number of skills and interests in particular her interest in cast glass as a medium for poetic and metaphoric expression. Nancy is currently developing a series of cast glass sculptures for exhibition in both National and International glass prizes.
Since graduating from Sydney University, Nancy has been developing her art practice at Studio4 whilst also working as both an educator and studio technical assistant. Nancy has exhibited around Australia in institutional and artist run spaces including Fisher Library, Rookwood Cemetery, and 541 Art Space. She has been with the Love Letter Art Exhibitions since 2014 and produces a new glass installation each year.
Dan De Nardis
Dan De Nardis is an emerging visual artist based in Sydney’s Inner West, living and working on the traditional lands of the Gadigal people. Originating from Adelaide, she completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts at the University of South Australia in 2020 and worked as teaching assistant for hot glass classes, and later, graduated with First Class Honours in a Bachelor of Advanced Studies (Honours) in Visual Arts at the University of Sydney in 2023 - earning the University Medal and the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Honours Prize.
Dan presented her first solo exhibition, “Ponderings of a Weary Mind”, at Disorder Gallery in 2023, of which one of the displayed works, “Depression (2022)”, featured in Corning Museum of Glass's annual exhibition-in-print, “New Glass Review” that same year. In 2024, she served as a Board Director for Ausglass - the Australian Association of Glass Artists, coming into the role with a particular goal of supporting emerging artists, and promoting the efforts of small glass studios nationally.
Through her practice, Dan explores emotion and the struggles of the human mind, with her current focus centering on experiences related to mental health, navigating personal narratives, identity, and fear. She openly discusses her personal ongoing difficulties with Anxiety; writing and creating around her experiences to encourage honest dialogue around mental conditions, and challenge the stigma that surrounds them. Through her monstrous sculptures and disquieting illustrations, she delves into the darker, more uncomfortable elements of human experience to bring them to light.
Dan has had a presence at Studio4 since late 2021 - as a resident artist, studio assistant, and workshop instructor. Her journey in glassmaking can be traced back to 2017, and her years have been spent developing a practice with strong roots in both hot-sculpting blown glass and kiln-casting complex sculptural forms.