Wanton, Wild & Unimagined Touring Australia
01/01/2017Wanton, Wild & Unimagined is a playful exhibition of sculptured recycled plastics that stirs the imagination and evokes environmental reflection.
Environmental artist Alison McDonald has spent many hours manipulating the humble plastic bottle, and collecting thousands of plastic lids to make a variety of unimagined and impossible creations inspired by plants, oceans and John Wyndham’s book The Day of the Triffids.
McDonald’s artwork sits at the junction of sculpture, consumer culture and environmental concern; utilising multiples of individual recycled materials to create new forms and perhaps re-shape our thinking about plastic and its effect on our environment. McDonald’s own version of the Triffids manipulate plastic bottles into large and colourful-looking plants to such an extent that their original form is lost, whereas large-scale works such as Flow and Global leave the original form intact so we can see the impact of small plastic items on an enormous scale.
By converting masses of everyday objects into visually aesthetic conceptual discoveries, McDonald’s artwork communicates the optimism in regenerating rubbish, whilst raising questions about the relationship we have with plastic and its supposed sustainability.
The Wanton, Wild & Unimagined Education Resource is available to download by clicking here.
Touring Locations:
| Venue | Exhibition period |
| Coalface Gallery, Moranbah, QLD | 1 December 2016 – 23 January 2017 |
| Pine Rivers Heritage Museum, QLD | 3 February – 9 April 2017 |
| Noosa Regional Gallery, QLD | 24 April – 11 June 2017 |
| Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, QLD | 23 June – 30 July 2017 |
| Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW | 9 September – 3 December 2017 |
| Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery, NSW | 20 January – 13 May 2018 |
| Port Pirie Regional Art Gallery, SA | 22 June – 5 August 2018 |
| Signal Point Gallery, Goolwa, SA | 15 August – 30 September 2018 |
| Arts Space Wodonga, VIC | 2 November – 1 December 2018 |
| Childers Art Space, QLD | 15 January – 24 February 2019 |
| Dogwood Crossing @ Miles, QLD | 8 March – 30 April 2019 |
| Redland Art Gallery, QLD | 5 May – 16 June 2019 |
| Warwick Art Gallery, QLD | 4 July – 19 August 2019 |
Dates may be subject to change. Please refer to the Museums & Galleries Queensland website
A travelling exhibition organised by Umbrella Studio contemporary arts, toured by Museums & Galleries Queensland. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government’s Visions of Australia program; and supported by the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments.
