From A to Z, Pamela Irving’s An Artful Alphabet invites audiences to rediscover the building blocks of language through a delightful, eccentric and imaginative lens.
Exhibiting at CS Gallery until 16 April, the exhibition by acclaimed Australian artist Pamela Irving transforms the 26 letters of the alphabet into a playful procession of wall-mounted sculptural figures.
Each letter is reimagined as a character, crafted from discarded and familiar objects.
Think Ken and Barbie dolls, plastic animals, wooden blocks, toys and trinkets that might have been familiar items you grew up with.
Carefully assembled and housed inside old cigar boxes and biscuit tins, the works are instantly recognisable and often quietly unsettling, pairing cheerful, sometimes maniacal expressions with deeper reflections on modern material culture.
While the exhibition is designed to delight both adults and children, there is more beneath the surface.
Irving uses the alphabet as a framework to explore contradictions around waste, overconsumption and nostalgia. Her sculptures question how quickly objects move from treasured trash, and what new meaning can be created when the mundane and discarded are given a second life.
Unapologetically facing our fast-paced, stuff-filled world, An Artful Alphabet balances absurdity with hope.
The mischievous figures acknowledge the realities of climate change and environmental decline, while still offering joy, humour and wonder, an invitation to rethink how we value the objects which surround us.
Irving is an award-winning painter and sculptor whose career spans more than four decades.
Her vibrant works feature in major public and private collections including Museum Victoria, Artbank, Geelong Art Gallery, and MAR Ravenna in Italy.
With its colour, curiosity and clever commentary, An Artful Alphabet is an exhibition well worth spelling out on your summer calendar.
