Biography

She also started experimenting with different techniques, such as, mould-blowing, enamilling, engraving, slumping and lampworking. In 2001 she won the jury-prize for an outdoor installation in Hoorn.
Working from her atelier in Amsterdam, Deborah continued to exhibit international, in the U.S.A., Italy, Germany, France and the U.K. She also exhibited at the Annual Glass Art Fair in Leerdam, The Netherlands and was twice asked to design work with “Crystal Superieur” in collaboration with the Royal Leerdam Crystal Glass Factory. Deborah also became increasingly involved around this time with numerous commissions and collaborations with other artists. She worked regularly with the Finnish glassdesigner Nanny Still McKinney. Through Van Tetterode Glasobjecten she was regularly commissioned to paint for the Dutch artist Corneille.

Deborah Hopkins continues to produce her mainly kiln-cast glass pieces, furthering her knowledge of the material and her visual language.

Winning first prize in a U.K. nationwide competition at the age of eight, was maybe the inspiration and start of Deborah Hopkins’ artistic journey. After graduating in 1988 with a B-tech national diploma in graphic design, Deborah was accepted at North-Staffordshire University’s glass department. The mystery of glass as a material and the possibilities that it presented caught her imagination. This new direction resulted in her graduation in glass design in 1991 and a best graduate prize inclusion in the Brierly Hill Glassmuseum collection. Deborah’s need to continue her study of glass as an artistic medium was confirmed by a chance meeting with Richard Meitner, a lecturer at the Gerrit Rietveld academy in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
In 1992 Deborah moved to Amsterdam and studied under the close tutorship of Mieke Groot and Richard Meitner. Here she developped her technical knowledge of glass and, more importantly, her concepts and ideas. Deborah’s graduation show in 1995 consisted of one prominent element -unique, kiln-cast, clear crystal replicas of her own hands. Language and movement were key elements in the pieces, conveying the powerfull messages that are contained in the human body.
This series of work resulted in Deborah’s recieving the Rietveld Academy’s nomination for the Prins Bernhard Prijs, several commissions, museum purchases and, three months later, a solo show at the Braggiotti Gallery in Amsterdam. Wanting to develop her visual vocabulary within her glasswork, related elements were introduced; feet, heads, hand- and footprints.