Sourced entirely from a significant private collection, this exhibition perfectly complements Bendigo Art Gallery’s own commitment to contemporary Australian art.

A winner with the public has been Louise Weaver’s vast carpet island Taking a Chance on Love 2003.

This work presents a fantastical world in which the distinctions between nature and culture are challenged. A monochrome red landscape has been made from hand-crocheted lambs’ wool, silk and synthetic thread, vintage fabrics and cultural artefacts.

Placed on the carpet is a red bear, embellished with stars in its fur, and nearby a mink is clothed in sparkling fabric and a squirrel sports a necklace.

This work continues Weaver’s interest in evolution and adaptation, and in the ways natural and man-made forms may potentially transform in response to a changing environment. This work has rarely been displayed and has been a captivating exhibition centrepiece.

Also intriguing is Ronnie van Hout’s room-sized installation BED/SIT 2008 - a remake of the renowned Robert Morris minimalist sculptural installation of a bed, chair and table.

But instead of the three objects standing alone, van Hout interrupts the cool detachment of the original by doubling it and inserting two identical robot-like miniature figures, creating a face-off and psychological charge between one setting and the other.

Referencing the 1968 sci-fi film 2001 Space Odyssey, the humanoid robots are a gesture towards both minimalism and “how the fabricated art object, as opposed to the hand-made, was such a radical concept in the 60s”. The robot is also a metaphor for utopian ideas of the mid-20th century, a redundant and nostalgic figure in our post-industrialist society.

And for those with a passion for contemporary photography, the work of Pat Brassington has been a valuable exhibition addition, blurring the boundaries between the real and the imagined, leaving the viewer to construct their own stories about the images on display.

There is a sense of the familiar in the three collages: the flowery fabric of a dress, the lace doily and the soft, grainy black-and-white photographs are taken from Brassington’s family album. But these works are not quite as they seem. They appear to exist in a dreamlike state, hauntingly beautiful on the surface, but as one looks more closely they morph into something disquieting and menacing. 

Curated by Samantha Comte and Mark Feary, this exhibition highlights a younger generation of artists. It continues until Sunday and entry is by donation.

Bendigo Art Gallery is open 10am – 5pm Tuesday to Sunday. For further information go to www.bendigoartgallery.com.au.