Life beyond the box art exhibition

An exhibition by award-winning cardboard artist and Ballarat local Patrick Duffy exploring a creative practice of making art from existing material that is largely considered waste.

Focusing on 3 dimensional sculptures that are a celebration of cardboard, based on the idea of creative limitation, everything must be made out of the box.

Patrick explored this simple and sustainable material in playful and theatrical ways to exploit its creative potential with – more often than not – unexpected results.

This exhibition features cardboard busts turning the act of viewing into a quiet confrontation.

Each sculpture, rough-edged yet meticulously shaped, depicts anonymous faces that seem to watch the audience as closely as they are being observed.

Looking to what can be achieved in texture, shape, colour and form, he attempts to encourage the viewer to reconnect to their sense of play and their childhood memories of playing with cardboard.

Yet, at the same time, urging the viewer not to see cardboard in the art as a gimmick.

Sculptures should speak for themselves, regardless of what they're made from, whether they're carved marble, cast in bronze or made from an old, recycled cardboard box.