Erin Conron
Erin Conron is an Australian glass artist whose practice explores the intersection of surface, light and form through both kiln-formed and blown glass. For nearly two decades she has layered painted line within glass, developing a visual language that is unmistakably her own.
Erin Conron, Fold #1, 2026, blown glass with multi-fired enamel, 40 x 40 x 18cm. Photo: Ketakii Jewson-Brown
Born and raised in Canberra, Erin grew up under the influence of her grandmother, a painter and glass artist who took her to the National Gallery of Australia and taught her glass beadmaking in her studio.
“Through her, I learned that creativity could be found in all aspects of life, so studying visual art felt like a natural choice.”
Erin spent her first year at art school in ceramics, but was drawn daily to the glass hotshop.
“I had a strong sense that this was where I belonged. The following year, I began studying glass, and that feeling has stayed with me ever since.”
Her real turning point came in her third year at the ANU Glass Workshop, when she encountered Salt on Mina Mina by First Nations artist Dorothy Napangardi. The movement and energy of its black and white lines inspired her to explore layering linear patterns within glass vessels, using traditional Swedish Graal techniques to build painted lines between layers of clear glass.
Over time she has combined traditional glass painting with contemporary approaches to making. She completed Honours in Glass at the Canberra School of Art, ANU, in 2008, and has since worked as a studio artist, established and managed a glass company, and taught visual arts in secondary schools.
Erin’s work has been exhibited widely in Australia and internationally, including at the Artisan Cultural Exchange at the 2025 Osaka World Expo. She won the National Gallery of Australia Emerging Artist Award in 2008 and the Queanbeyan City Art Prize, and has been a finalist in the Tom Malone, Ranamok and Hindmarsh glass prizes. Her work is held in Australia’s National Art Glass Collection, the European Museum of Modern Glass in Coburg, Germany, and the Kaplan-Ostergaard Glass Collection at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
In 2024 she received an Artisan Established Artist Residency with Canberra Glassworks, and she now works from her purpose-built studio in Verrierdale on the Sunshine Coast. Her solo exhibition Manipulating Vision: The Glass Art of Erin Conron is showing at Caloundra Regional Gallery until 6 December 2026.
Erin believes Australian craft must be actively supported. “The future of craft in Australia needs to be nurtured if it is to thrive. It is devastating to see the impact of funding cuts on our institutions and the opportunities available to emerging makers.”
Still, she is optimistic that in a world of endless AI-generated imagery “there will be a renewed appreciation for the handmade, the individuality of human creativity and the skill involved in making something truly original.”
For Erin, hope lies with those who pass their knowledge on: “I believe it is this generosity and sense of community that continues to sustain Australian craft and gives me hope for its future.”
Follow Erin at https://www.instagram.com/erinconron/