Featuring an array of works across a variety of media, the exhibition – titled Cacophony – is on display in La Trobe Bendigo’s Visual Art Building.

Creative arts graduate Edwina Combe said the unveiling the exhibition was a relief for the 18 students involved.

“It is also kind of sad because all of my degree is on display,” she said.

“But it is nice to see what everyone else has done. It has surpassed anything we thought it would be.”

Ms Combe studied fine arts and ceramics in her degree but her interest in photography shows in her part of Cacophony.

“I have printed out five prints that were done in a dark room but they are the ends of negatives that have been damaged,” she said.

“You can only see chemical stains and scratches on the film. It is about the nature of the process rather than the outcome.

Ms Combe has also created a small projection of images taken by disposable cameras she has modified and re-purposed.

“I make my own cameras from disposable one by playing with the film and modifying them,” she said.

“It looks kind of strange when they develop. The fade is so slow that there is a moment where you’re not sure which is the dominant image.”

Re-purposing disposable cameras is something Ms Combe started doing during a trip to Japan.

“It was on an exchange trip where I wasn’t at an art-based university, so there were no facilities for my normal practices,” she said.

“I ordered some disposable cameras off Amazon and was such a cheapskate that I wondered if I could use them again.

“So I took them apart, made some diagrams and reloaded them with different types of film.

“It was very trial and error to a point where it was more experimental. I was changing lenses, and taking out or putting in other pieces. They became kind of Frankenstein mutant cameras.”

With her bachelor degree completed, Ms Combe is now deciding what to do next.

“Originally I was going to go straight into a post-graduate degree but I feel like I need to wait a little while before doing any of that,” she said.

“I might go to Melbourne for the arts scene, which is great at moment. I want to spend a few years working and living around the creative industry.

“Later on I will study my masters in fine art again but overseas. I have friends in the Czech Republic that want me to come over. It is a beautiful place for photography and ceramics. 

”When I was 16, I decided this is what I wanted to do. I also liked science and language but art could combine all my interests rather than keeping them separate. Art encapsulates so many of my hobbies.”

Cacophony – The 2017 Creative Arts Graduate Exhibition is on display until November 25 at La Trobe University Bendigo’s Visual Art Building.