About Thomas Barter

Originally from California, Thomas Barter is an Auckland-based artist whose practice spans ceramics, public art and cast glass. After graduating with a BFA from CSU Humboldt in 1988, he built a career creating large-scale public artworks, murals, facades, sculptures and architectural installations across California, including commissions for the City of Sacramento, the Municipal Water District of Southern California at Union Station in Los Angeles, and the City of Long Beach. He relocated to New Zealand in 2003 and continued creating and installing public artworks throughout Auckland.

A pivotal shift came in 2010, when Thomas took a class in glass casting. Drawing on decades of experience in ceramics and mould-making, he embraced lost-wax casting and began translating qualities of his ceramic work into glass. Cast glass is now his primary medium.

His sculptures explore the tension between fragility and permanence, often drawing inspiration from origami and the geometry of folded paper. Recent works extend this language through repeated Art Deco-inspired cast-glass elements. Light, structure and craftsmanship shape forms that feel architectural yet remarkably delicate.

Working from his Auckland studio, Thomas continues to develop new sculptural forms, drawing on a career spanning more than three decades and two countries.

Browse Thomas Barter’s available cast-glass sculptures below, or enquire about a piece.