Salvaged car parts are reimagined in a body of work coming to the Gunnedah Bicentennial Creative Arts Gallery in May.
The Wandering Art Collective is behind the distinctive exhibition, Roadtrip!, opening on Friday, 15 May, which offers new interpretations of travel, place, and identity through a feminist lens.
Collective artist Joanne Stead said the focus of the exhibition was to take unwanted objects and give them new purpose.
“Blending memory, landscape, and imagination, Roadtrip! transforms salvaged car parts into striking works of art,” she said.
“Discarded materials are upcycled and redefined, turning remnants of travel into bold, thought-provoking expressions of place, identity, and movement.”
Stead said the Collective was a “powerful collaboration of women artists committed to connection, creativity, and growth beyond individual practice”. Four of the 16 participating artists are Aboriginal.
“Working across diverse mediums — from painting and sculpture to weaving, mosaics, and light — the Collective brings together a rich tapestry of voices and perspectives,” she said.
As shifting fuel prices reshape people’s travel plans, the artist said the iconic road trip may be out of reach for many, “but the spirit of the journey doesn’t have to stop — it simply takes a new form”.
“Roadtrip! invites audiences to come together and reconnect with the memories, stories, and possibilities of travel — past, present, and future,” Stead said.
“Whether it’s the hum of tyres on an open highway, a last-minute detour, or a place that still lives vividly in your mind, this exhibition is a chance to celebrate the journeys that have shaped us and imagine the ones still to come.”
Members of the Wandering Art Collective work in mediums including acrylics/oils, glass mosaics, sculpture, illustration, 3D collage, light projection, metal fabrication, weaving and paper mâché.
Roadtrip! will open at the Creative Arts Gallery at 6pm on Friday, 15 May and will continue until Friday, 26 June.
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