Working in kiln-formed glass, Kaz Hauser explores identity and place. Her abstract compositions link to memories and colours while conjuring landscapes and streetscapes.

This body of work has evolved since Hauser participated in the Transitions program for emerging artists, a joint initiative of Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts and Townsville City Galleries. The artist’s mentor Alison McDonald prompted the breaking, restructuring and refiring of an older work (about childhood memories of Hauser’s grandmother’s home) to form and inform a new work. This transformative process was revelatory for the artist, and resulted in an allegory for her own transformations.

Kaz Hauser (b.1960, New Haven, Connecticut, USA) works in kiln-formed glass and other materials from her home studio on Gurambilbarra (Townsville), North Queensland. She has participated in both group and collaborative exhibitions in Melbourne, Townsville and the Blue Mountains. Hauser is a later-career artist whose diverse life and professional experiences and life-long concerns about social justice underpin her desire to create works of beauty informed by compassion for her fellow human beings. She has lived in the US, Eritrea, Botswana and Australia. Her roles prior to focusing on art included practicing law in a large firm and a human rights law fellowship, and work in various capacities in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College (both in the US). Being creative is part of Hauser's family story. Her dad was a painter and art teacher; she grew up making things. After learning the fundamentals of kiln-formed glass at a studio in Melbourne, she has further developed her technical skills through self-teaching and master classes.