A new exhibit is debuting at Agnes Jamieson Gallery (AJG) in Minden next week, with Apsley-based glassblower and sculptor, Brad Copping, saying his show ‘As the Shoreline Disappears’ carries an emotional double meaning for him.
The 12-piece showcase runs July 23 to Sept. 19 and explores Copping’s experiences navigating the aging of his parents, including dealing with an Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis, alongside a parallel examination of the destruction humanity continues to inflict upon the natural world.
Copping said he seeks to illuminate these “very real” human and environmental losses through his work, hoping the end result will inspire changes in behaviour or help people move past, or process, their grief.
“It’s probably been the past five years that I’ve been dealing with my parents – trying to be there for them, advocate for them and do the things that needed to be done really took a lot out of me,” Copping said. “It was a heart-wrenching journey. The title of the show is definitely a commentary on the declining state of the environment, but it’s also very much a way of dealing with loss, working through things in ways that make sense to me.
“Grappling with loss and how we look at it, deal with and accept it is very central to the theme,” he added.
Most of the pieces featured are newer creations, made within the past year, though Copping said there a couple of his favourite older pieces also included.
The main attraction is one he put together in 2016 using two fibreglass canoes. It was a nod to Copping’s stints training in Europe, where he had two, month-long residencies at glass blowing facilities in Belgium and the Netherlands in the early 2010s. “The two centres were very close together and I used to paddle across a lake in a canoe to go from one to the other. That was a pretty big period of my life and artistic journey, so wanted to commemorate that,” Copping said. “I took two canoes and chopped them into pieces and turned them into a big X, which leans against the wall. That’s probably the most commanding thing that will be in the show.”
Copping has 36 years of experience creating and selling art in Ontario and Quebec. He got his start at Sheridan College. While he started out in furniture design, Copping said he was seduced by glass blowing early on. A couple of his favourite instructors were also sculptors, which encouraged Copping to chase both mediums. His functional blown glasswork can be found in permanent collections at the Royal Ontario Museum, the Design Exchange event space in Toronto and the Claridge Collection in Montreal.
At the peak of his popularity, Copping ran commercial galleries in Toronto and Montreal where he showcased his sculptures, though he’s largely worked from his home studio and exhibited in public spaces since the 2008 financial crisis.
Not feeling pressured to make pieces purely to sell has taken Copping down some interesting paths, the artist said.
“The work can get a little weirder. Many of my pieces are quite large, so it’s great to have the large spaces public galleries can offer to really showcase the work,” he said.
This is his first time exhibiting in Haliburton County, with Copping noting he’s excited to visit the gallery July 25 for the opening reception, which runs 1-3 p.m. He connected with curator, Shannon Kelly, after his friends Gary Blundell and Victoria Ward exhibited at AJG in 2024.
“They recommended me and I’m glad they did – it was perfect timing for me to make a commitment to a serious exhibition like this,” he said.
