Making art from junk

While driving back and forth between Melbourne and South Australia to do our PDC we passed through the tiny town of Ki Ki.  Blink and you'd miss it..........well you would if it wasn't for the huge wire animals perched on the roof of the Recycled Wireworks Gallery.  With a facade like that we had to stop and have a look.

Run by David and Maggie Forsyth, the gallery is a showcase for David's creative use of scrap wire, metal and glass.  Old fencing wire, spring mattresses, bits of tin and things that are generally considered rubbish by other people, become creative inspiration for David. As well as collecting junk from the side of the road he volunteers to remove the 'rubbish' from people's properties. In David's hands this rubbish becomes unique pieces of art, for sale at the gallery or by commission.

With tattoos covering one side of his face, David is not your average looking artist, but get him talking about recycling waste into art and you see how passionate he is about it.  He was kind enough to give us a tour of some of the pieces he had currently in the gallery.


A palm tree made from fencing wire and glass 

large bird



bee made from wire and glass



birds



 

giraffes



David with one of his creations

 

Inside the gallery building itself are plenty of smaller pieces. We couldn't resist buying this set of 3 penguins:

 



 

David will also do an on the spot portrait in wire for $15.  Watching him deftly bend and shape the old wire was a treat.  And the portrait of me with my round glasses was surprisingly accurate :)

 

 

So if you happen to be driving along the Dukes Hwy in South Australia and pass the town of Ki Ki, it's definitely worth making a stop at the Recycled Wireworks Gallery. Turning rubbish into art - what's not to like about that?