Reclaim and Moving Forward, Looking Back at Craft ACT - the recycled and the new

Until December 17.

Is it only our generation that has had too much stuff? The clothing bins and waste disposal areas of Canberra overflow with all the unwanted and unloved detritus of our lives. I work in a charity op shop so I know! Artists are sensitive to environmental issues and many craftspeople are concerned not only with processes of production they use in their art practice that could be environmentally harmful but they also wrestle with the challenge and opportunity facing our society of how to continue to create while building sustainability (Rachael Coghlan in the exhibition catalogue).

Corr Blimey, Christina Bricknell, Simon Cottrell, Nadege Desgenetez, Dan Edwards, Luke Laffan, Gilbert Riedelbauch, Joanne Searle and Sam Tomkins are a group of artists who were selected by curator Mel George for their interest in recycled materials. The Green Shed, a recycling centre in Canberra, supplied the materials that the artists used for the work in this exhibition.

Corr Blimey Fashion Design has created garments out of pre-loved textiles such as patterned jumpers. They have set themselves rules of engagement that comprise not cutting into the original garments and wasting the fabric but folding it and draping it instead. The result is a set of beautifully sculptured fashion outfits that are conceived in three dimensional space instead of the more traditional concept of a back and front view. Indeed Corr Blimey's conceptual approach to fabric and the human form is in line with the striking collection of sculptured and shaped garments by Australian designer Toni Maticevski which I saw recently at the Bendigo Art Gallery.

Joanne Searle took the familiar 1950s ubiquitous coffee cup with its tapered ribbed bottom and transformed it through reglazing, gilding and fusing into new forms and colours that cast these boring mass produced mugs into new and desirable objects. Nadege Desgenetez used old saucepan steamers as a mould for a series of creamy white glass bowls, and steamer lids as tops for her generously sized blown glass containers. However I was drawn to her set of remoulded glass punch cups that fitted neatly into a reclaimed triangular black paint tray – a reworking of discarded objects that is both clever, attractive and useful.

Dan Edwards and Simon Cottrell both already use recycled material in their jewellery practice. In these current works Edwards winds wool around large wooden curtain rings to make colourful if rather large necklaces. Simon Cottrell also utilises recycled material. His wall sculpture or necklaces (whatever you prefer) are assembled from plastic curtain pulls, blind tracking, plastic chains, old light fittings and novelty items. In addition there is an amazing assemblage of recycled components making up a stereo system and speakers by Sam Tomkins, a walking stick fashioned from a bicycle pump by Luke Laffan and reclaimed chairs by Christina Bricknell as well as some very stylish contemporary looking lamps by Gilbert Riedelbauch.

This exhibition will not solve the bigger problem of what to do with all our unwanted stuff but it does suggest with creativity, wit and good humour how artists can reuse some of these perfectly good things that have been thrown away to reimagine new objects that can be loved and reused.

The other current exhibition at Craft ACT, Mitchell/Fuller: Moving Forward, Looking Back, is by Scott Mitchell and Nicholas Fuller.

In antique shops or among collections of furniture you can sometimes come across finely made pieces of miniature furniture such as chairs, tables and chests of drawers. Often they are said to be made for children or doll houses. Most likely however, if they are beautifully crafted, they will be journeyman pieces crafted by apprentices in the style of a master craftsman. In this exhibition of wood furniture and wall panels, Scott Mitchell and Nicholas Fuller have followed this traditional practice. Nicholas Fuller has made a small model (1:3 scale) of Scott Mitchell's iconic floating wall table. The top of this table is positioned on a concealed plinth so that the whole area seems to float on the four legs making it appear light and elegant. Both artists have a regard and respect for the natural characteristics of the wood they use. Their organic designs and restraint in decoration highlight all the wood's natural properties of grain and colour.

Of special note is the series of leaf-shaped standard lamps by Scott Mitchell (the Lampin series) in a variety of exotic woods that, as well as being elegantly streamlined and sculptural, are also practical and economical in their use of space. Nicholas Fuller has a wall cabinet of his own design on display (Novillo wall cabinet). It is made from Canadian Hard Rock Maple with finely tooled black calf leather detailing. It is a timeless piece of furniture - spare and elegantly made using traditional craftsman skills yet cognisant of the best of contemporary design. It, like the other beautifully designed and made works made by these two skilled artists, would never be in need of recycling.