DALE Hardiman’s furniture designs marry medieval and modern design with a sustainable twist.
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Inspired by naturally occurring form and materials, the Bendigo-born and raised artist creates intricately hand-crafted pieces within minutes, using minimal energy and manufacturing.
Based in Melbourne, Hardiman this week returned to Bendigo for his first solo exhibition Irregular Forms.
The exhibition was officially opened last night.
Having completed school a stones throw from the venue of his exhibition, Dudley House, the 22-year-old said he was keen to return home to show off his handiwork.
Hardiman’s latest catalogue of work, entitled “White Stick”, draws on traditional furniture-making practices, but not those many of us are familiar with.
Instead he uses twigs collected from a Maldon farm, binding them together using a malleable, high-tech resin.
The third-year RMIT industrial design student spent two days earlier this week installing the exhibition and constructing each piece by hand, and was filmed every step of the way by friend Tobi Mambwe.
“I didn’t design anything before the show. It’s basically feeding off the branches as to what they will be,” he said.
“The shapes of the branches form the way in which the pieces come together.
“The ladder is a perfect example – this idea of following the contours of the branches themselves to create the form or shape, hence the name Irregular Forms.
“The results are anything but regular.”
Footage of the process will be shown as part of the exhibition alongside ambient music created by Bendigo’s Seth and Samuel Nolan. Irregular Forms, curated by Suzannah Henty, runs until Sunday.