I met Eryka Garbutt, Mixed Media Artist, as a fellow member of the Shop of Strathnairn Arts. Her works are known throughout Canberra for being unexpected and delightful, not to mention thought provoking.
Waste Not, her Solo Exhibition currently on show in Gallery Two, is in it’s final week at Strathnairn Arts.
Eryka kindly shared the inspirations and processes behind this intriguing exhibition……..
Why this medium? Seems a shame to throw out toilet rolls and plastic bottles. What about those poor lonely pieces of cutlery left alone in some dark cold corner of a second hand shop or antiques store. Discarded and abandoned. From an economical point of view, my materials suit the budget of a struggling artist.
Elephant | Mixed Media Sculpture | Eryka Garbutt
Recycling takes materials such as plastic, paper, metal, and glass and breaks them down so that they can be made into a new product. Up-cycling is the process of converting old or discarded materials into something useful and often beautiful.
Re-purposing is to change (something) so that it can be used for a different purpose. There is a fine line between the three and often they just merge.
Lady In Not So Red | Toilet Rolls | Eryka Garbutt
Creativity is what drives an artist. The added bonus of recycling, up-cycling, and re-purposing is not only its contribution to the environment but the added bonus of the provocation to think outside the box in a practical way, but with a still aesthetically pleasing manner.
Art has to stand on its own merits not capitalise on its humble beginnings. If the origins are lost in the execution, then that is a measure of its success. – Eryka
Pendant | Cutlery | Eryka Garbutt
There is always amazing creations by Eryka to find at the shop at Strathnairn Arts, don’t miss this opportunity to see a more focused body of work utilising materials often dismissed.
Pendant | Cutlery | Eryka Garbutt
Mixed Media Artist – Eryka Garbutt is known for her marvellous mind and for finding new ways to reuse or recycle materials in her many art forms.
She will be available at the Strathnairn Gallery this Saturday 22nd April to speak about her creations and artistic processes. This is the last week of the exhibition, reopening tomorrow at 10am.
The cafe is open and it makes a wonderful day out! Fans of the movie The Wizard of Oz will also enjoy seeing Olly Ayrton‘s Life like Sculptures on show in Gallery One.
