One person’s trash is Carolyn Cardinet’s treasure.
Cardinet is the first artist chosen for the Footscray Artsbox Artist residency, happily creating away in a custom-fitted shipping container in front of the Paisley Street library.
The visual artist collects discarded and unnoticed objects, things she considers the rejected mass-produced objects of everyday life.
She assembles this reclaimed refuse into sculptural forms, drawing connections between the objects and the environment from which they were extracted.
For her Footscray residency project, Cardinet has been collecting waste from local streets, which she will turn into a series of totem poles.
Cardinet says she feels her work draws a connection between the area’s Aboriginal past and the present.
She is inviting any curious passersby to drop by the studio and discuss the work in progress.
The residency will finish on November 20, with Cardinet’s monument to Footscray to be displayed in the library courtyard.
Maribyrnong councillor Grant Miles said the Artsbox would give the Maribyrnong community a new vibrant, intimate and inclusive arts venue, which would be home to artists-in-residence, exhibitions, and creative workshops throughout the year.
Created by designer and fabricator Derek John, the Artsbox will be at the Paisley Street site for up to 18 months, before moving to different locations around Maribyrnong.
Contact Maribyrnong council on 9688 0200 or email@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au.
