Art for the Planet

This innovative and thought-provoking assembly of work, combining disciplines including painting, photography and sculpture, will convey stories referencing nature, overconsumption, permanence and the environmental consequences of our lifestyles.

Art’s ability to communicate and educate without words or judgement gives the viewer freedom to examine the images and issues in their own time, and provides an impactful experience that’s proven to lead to positive social change.

Using repurposed objects and materials, the four artists aim to make each of us reflect on the consequences of our lifestyles, and take appropriate action to reverse or minimise our impact on the planet.

Dean Sewell is widely known for his documentary photography, concentrating his gaze on the social implications of the new globalised 
world economy and the environmental consequences exerted by climate change.

David Cragg is a multidisciplinary artist of First Nations, Irish and Scottish descent, working as a muralist, designer, writer, builder, photographer, sculptor and youth/disability community worker. His art-making is primarily comprised of reclaimed materials such as half-full tins of paint, used formply and damaged supplies from worksites, all of which would otherwise end up in landfill.

Jane Gillings’ artwork is constructed largely with found materials. In an attempt to limit landfill, she collects discarded objects and fills her studio with them. They are then are meticulously sorted and examined for sculptural potential, eventually being cut, shaped, melted, wired, glued and presented as something else – something unlikely to be discarded.

Ro Murray works predominantly in an installation-based multidisciplinary manner, often ephemeral in nature and with the deliberate intention not to make stand-alone objects. She 
is interested in her work’s ability to communicate, and negotiates thorny topics on
 the news, including (un)natural environments, human rights, climate change, unsustainable energy and refugees.

ART FOR THE PLANET brings attention to the urgent need for individuals to acknowledge their impact on the environment and act accordingly, highlighting that everything is interconnected: what we do to our world, we do to ourselves.

If we don’t save our planet, no one else will.

ART FOR THE PLANET is on display 24 hours a day at OPEN (Darling Quarter’s free outdoor exhibition space) and is curated and produced by aMBUSH Gallery and presented by Darling Quarter. It will run from Monday, 25 September until Friday, 27 October.

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Photography by Dean Sewell