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Hamish Donaldson

@ham_don

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Glass artist / designer / maker
Based on Bunurong / Boon Wurrung country
Vic, Australia
Contact: [email protected]

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Gnostalgia 🜍 (sulphur) 🜍

1 of 3 pieces completing the alchemical tria Prima/three primes. The fiery soul and energy within all matter.

A temple to within, glimpsing the unseen, patterns forming structure, layers of meaning, layers of mystery. Threads of knowing, flowing through time, hidden and obscured, passing vibrations, spoken softly, decoded, discovered, remembered.

On show at @ngvmelbourne in the Rigg design prize at the Ian potter centre in fed square until February 1st

#ngvmelbourne #riggdesignprize #riggdesignprize2025 #blownglass #glassengraving #templeart #alchemicalsulphur #glassart #cymatics taken in NGV Australia: The Ian Potter Centre by @ham_don

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a year ago

‘Gnostalgia’

So nice to be able to finally share this work ‘Gnostalgia’ after a deep fermentation in the cauldron of winter, And to have such an amazing platform and opportunity to share the work in a space like the @ngvmelbourne in such a prestigious prize as the Rigg design prize is mind blowing to say the least…
Huge thanks to @deepcdive and @calumdonaldson for the assists in the studio and for doing the heavy lifting… and to @gordonstudioglassblowers for being the container and support for it to happen within. Thanks to @kugleraustralia for the colours as I scraped the bottom of their colours to get these pieces made in time. And to all the other legends in the show it’s an honour to be shown alongside you all! May the connections continue to weave within this newly formed community…

‘My work Gnostalgia stands as an evocation of great mysteries – a remembrance of ancient temples as gateways to the inner and unseen. It reflects the above and the below, the inner and the outer, as the hermetic current pulses through time. Drawing on the entwined histories of glassmaking and alchemy, these vessels act as containers of transformation, shaped through the union of the tria prima – salt, sulphur and mercury. Blending ancient traditions with contemporary digital processes, Gnostalgia holds ancient wisdom in renewed form: a quiet offering of the sacred made visible in the present moment.’

#ngv #ngvmelbourne #riggdesignprize #riggdesignprize2025 #blownglass #glassart #alchemy #triaprima taken in NGV Australia: The Ian Potter Centre by @ham_don

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a year ago

Gnostalgia 🜔 (salt) 🜔

1 of 3 pieces completing the alchemical tria Prima/three primes. The body, the structure, the physical that grounds the work.

A temple to within, glimpsing the unseen, patterns forming structure, layers of meaning, layers of mystery. Threads of knowing, flowing through time, hidden and obscured, passing vibrations, spoken softly, decoded, discovered, remembered.

On show at @ngvmelbourne in the Rigg design prize at the Ian potter centre in fed square until February 1st

#ngvmelbourne #riggdesignprize #riggdesignprize2025 #blownglass #glassengraving #templeart #alchemicalsalt #glassart #cymatics #triaprima #hermeticallysealed #thevessel by @ham_don

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a year ago

Dendera, the temple of Hathor and Habu temple of Luxor.
Up the Nile and into the deep desert where these ancient temples still stand after 3500 years. Dripping in mystery these spaces tantalise the curious mind with their sheer scale, beauty and harmony emanating from the stones that have been laid. Offering much more to the grand story we are walking, showing the heights of previous potential and alternative speculations on technology and civilisations advancements. Leaving a sense of awe and wonderment rippling through the body as the waves of the great mystery drive ever onwards… by @ham_don

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2 days ago

Navigating the watery world of Venice amongst great company and an abundance of amazing exhibitions and art. @theveniceglassweek was an amazing celebration and gathering of the global glass community and @homofaber biennale was one of the greatest craft based shows I’d witnessed. A truly great time to steep in all the mastery and beauty whilst connecting with many great humans. taken in Venice, Italy by @ham_don

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20 days ago

It’s been such a dream exploring the ancient lands of Kemet, visiting the enigmatic pyramids of Giza, standing under their weight in the shadow of all the mysteries they hold. The immensity of their size looming over the chaotic buzz of Cairo. Holding the light of a distant past built upon a wholly different way of being and seeing with secrets still hidden in the ever shifting sands of the desert. Held in the stones and the agendas of power and narrative, constricting the truth of our history and the depth of our mystery. by @ham_don

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25 days ago

Within the Orcadian mysteries of the northern isles. 5000+ year old megalithic astrological observatories of a high degree. A people who came and went leaving traces in the stones as they made their way down the western isles. Upholding a knowledge and tradition embedded in the stone circles they left behind as they travelled south through Britain. taken in Orkney, British Isles - Scotland by @ham_don

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a month ago

The Rosslyn chapel

An incredible little 600 year old chapel outside of Edinburgh, steeped in mystery and ancient lore spanning many traditions. With over 100 pagan green man carvings, Nordic dragons, biblical teachings, ancient songs hidden in the stone using Cymatic patterns, knights Templar connections and free masonry. This chapel and surrounding forest and glen are full of story and elusive mystery spanning thousands of years, with the ancient yew trees standing through it all.
Even housing ancient stone beehives in some of the spires with carved flowers as the entrance holes for the bees.
Photos are not allowed on the inside but the carvings are phenomenal, even depicting corn and aloe Vera, plants from the new world of America, carved before it was officially founded.
In inspiring emanation of knowledge embedded through stone and craftsmanship… by @ham_don

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2 months ago

Some of the drama from the isle of Skye off the west coast of Scotland…

Ancient mountains
layered lava flows
eaten away by ice and by time
The vastness of isles tucked away at the edge
With hidden glens under towering Ben’s
a language alive in the tongue of the land
With stories a plenty, a land surely lived
From Angus of the wind to the old man of storr
There’s heart in this land
In the mist and the storm
And to think of my ancestors
Was a humbling thought
The lines that run deep
To the indigenous feet
That danced on these sands
And tended these lands
Sailed these seas
Through battles and breeze
Hidden away in the highlands of revelry
Hidden away in the hearths and the heraldry. taken in Isle of Skye, Scotland by @ham_don

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2 months ago

A private commission from early this year, attempting to replicate my recent piece that the NGV collected whilst ambitiously trying to scale it up even more…

Offering up the second round of Mercurial Gnostalgia. Once, twice… perhaps thrice? Great!

📸 @kevinggordon

#glassart #gnostalgia #hermestrısmegıstus by @ham_don

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2 months ago

Some ‘Etheric Pillars’ on show now at @seppeltsfield in the Barossa valley for the @jamfactoryau alumni show ‘Au Courant/here now’.

It was great to be apart of this show and catch up with a bunch of amazing makers and shakers I went through the jam factory program many moons ago…

📸 @connorpphotography

#jamfactoryau taken in Jam Factory Seppeltsfield by @ham_don

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2 months ago

Really excited and truly honoured to finally share that my piece ‘Gnostalgia ☿ (Mercury)’ was acquired into the collection of the @ngvmelbourne after being apart of the 2025 Rigg design prize last year. An amazing showcase of emerging talent curated by the wonderful @simoneleamon ✨

A huge moment that brings deep gratitude to the path and puts wind in the sails moving forward… May beauty and mystery continue to guide the way.
🌞
#ngv #ngvmelbourne #riggdesignprize2025 #riggdesignprize #gnostalgia taken in NGV Melbourne by @ham_don

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2 months ago