Alexandra Hirst is a South Australian-based glass artist whose work spans glassblowing, glass casting and installation. While obtaining her Bachelor of Visual Arts (Sculpture) at the University of New South Wales Art and Design, Hirst was exposed to glassblowing through an international exchange program at Alfred University in New York, USA (2013). She was instantly drawn to the complexity, materiality and the collaborative nature of glass craft. In 2019, Hirst completed her Masters in Glass at the Edinburgh College of Art in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she learned to incorporate digital technologies with traditional glassblowing and casting techniques. Following her studies, Hirst joined the JamFactory’s Associate Program in the Glass Studio, where she continues to grow her artistic practice. Hirst’s work is heavily inspired by the repetitive patterns and cycles of the natural world. The transparency and optical qualities of glass make it the perfect medium to explore these themes – whether, through layered colourations, etchings, installations or 3D-printed cast glass sculptures.