'Glass is breaking', is a sentence in the present continuous tense, conjuring an anxiety-inducing state. Most artists who are experts in handling glass know how to control breakages. But they are also aware that glass is a subject, it has its own will, if you like. Glass will break. Present Continuous is also, therefore, about being continuously present to the possibilities of the medium in the moment of making: to allow glass to speak to its own immanent fragility. This movement from material to metaphor is taken up by all the artists in Present Continuous, none more so than by the late Neil Roberts whose sculptural understanding of glass is represented by works from 1983 to 2001. His influence continues in the work of the contemporary artists in this exhibition who are attuned to both the conceptual and formal properties of their media. ‘Present Continuous’, curated by Barbara Campbell and Liam Garstang, proffers glass as material and metaphor. The exhibition features works from the Estate of Neil Roberts (1954–2002), alongside recent works by Sydney College of the Arts staff and alumni: Gabrielle Adamik, Consuelo Cavaniglia, Cobi Cockburn, Chris Dolman, Stevie Fieldsend, Paul Greedy, and Andrew Lavery.Image: Neil Roberts, ‘The Space Inside My Fist’ 1995/2017. Lead crystal, cast from terracotta, original edition of 20. 9.8 x 3.4 x 3.4 cm (irreg.) Courtesy the estate of Neil Roberts and Canberra Glassworks. Photo: David Paterson