When we gaze down from a plane at city lights at night, we feel like giants. Then, looking up at the stars, we feel like tiny specks amongst them. That a person can feel like a god and like a speck of stardust at one time, in one body and mind: what marvels us humans are!
Glass Cathedrals, miniature worlds in boxes, are inspired by this wonder, and the power of the tiny to communicate big ideas and feelings. As well as making art that reflects my ideas about being a small human wandering around a big planet, I specialise in capturing other people’s stories in their own Glass Cathedral portraits.
Born in Cape Town, I moved to London as a teenager. I graduated in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University in 1994, followed by a year studying art at Central St. Martins, London. This detour led me on to a very unusual life path, including living on a desert island, sleeping with lions, and not least, spending over two decades making thousands of miniature artworks in Cape Town, California, and now London. Glass Cathedrals have been exhibited at art fairs and galleries, in bookshops and science museums, film and literary festivals.
I am also the curator of Heathbound, an annual group art exhibition inspired by Hampstead Heath that had its debut at Burgh House, London in September 2026.
Lisa Swerling, 2026
