I have a bubble of molten glass at my fingertips and it’s pulsing as if it has a life of its own. As glass artist Matt Hall says, “Having a ball of lava in your hand really focusses the mind,” and right now I’m focussed on how easy Matt makes it look as he handles the blazing-hot glass, spinning it, blowing it, adding colour and moulding patterns: it looks like an effortless art but, believe me, it’s not. “If it was easy, I don’t think it would be as much fun,” Matt says.

Fun, yes, but part of the alchemy is how the delicacy of glass grows from the fury of the furnace. For Matt, that’s the attraction. “Oh, it’s hard, heavy work. You don’t often find things that can test your bravery these days. So, being able to step up to the heat, getting a fight or flight panic, you just have to work through it. And once you do, even if the piece is lopsided or wonky, you’ve tested your mettle in a beautiful mix of hand, head, and heart.”

And when working with three assistants it’s a flurry of complex choreography. “No one’s talking. It’s just visual cues and timing. Everyone knows where to be, when the glass is the perfect heat, what’s the perfect amount of glass, the perfect pressure of breath into a blowpipe. All these little intricacies. As they say, ‘Perfection is just a lot of little things done well’.”

And Matt’s little things done well bloom into tumblers, pendant lights, vases and bowls perfectly showcasing the fluidity and malleability of the medium, using techniques he’s been honing for 20 years in New Zealand and in the famed glass workshops of Murano in Venice and the Czech Republic.

Back home he credits his wife Morgan as a crucial part of the glass design process. She chooses all the colourways (such as the Love Day tumbler pictured above), does the admin and the accounts, leaving Matt to just “make the stuff”.

Matt’s work can be found in a number of independent galleries throughout New Zealand (such as Inc Design in Oamaru and Crushes in Auckland), places which he says are unique. “We’ve got a great gallery network in New Zealand, places between a high-end art gallery and a souvenir shop. We have a whole range of gift shops and boutiques that all love handmade glass. And we’re lucky that they promote it really well.”

Well-versed in the history and traditions of glass making, Matt loves the loose and free designs of European mid-century glass which inspire his pieces such as the vivid handkerchief Fazzoletto bowls. After all, he says, “Glass stays perfect forever.” matthewhallglass.com TRACY WHITMEY