Simon Lewis Wards is an artist based in Aotearoa New Zealand, known for his sculptural works that transform everyday objects into playful, larger-than-life forms. Working primarily in cast crystal glass and porcelain, his practice explores nostalgia, scale, and the emotional pull of familiar cultural objects.

Wards is best known for Glass Candy, a growing body of work inspired by the iconic sweets of New Zealand and Australia. Cast in luminous glass crystal and slip-cast porcelain, the sculptures reference the excitement of choosing pick-and-mix lollies at the local corner shop- a cultural ritual shared across generations and borders. Glass Candy sculptures are now collected internationally, with clients across New Zealand, Australia, the United States and beyond.

Although Glass Candy is his best-known work, today Wards’ practice has expanded to include larger sculptures that challenge the boundaries of traditional glass casting techniques. Whether it’s pulling molten sheets of glass out of the kiln and contorting them into exaggerated ‘bubble wrap’ rolls, or using an air compressor to inflate salvaged sheet glass into pillow-like forms, he finds satisfaction in developing the engineering aspects of his craft. For Wards, the thrill lies not only in the initial conceptualisation but also in the ingenuity required to bring his visions to life. Amidst technical innovation and changing mediums his ideas are still, if inadvertently, firmly rooted in nostalgia.

Outside of his practice, Wards seeks to engage creative students in the arts, drawing from his own experience of finding that traditional academic frameworks don't always serve creative or entrepreneurial students. His giant knuckle bone sculptures have been installed in schoolyards and public spaces, serving as reminders that art can spark curiosity, nostalgia, and a sense of play at any age.