Issue 732

Wooden It Be Good

Rings of History, Lismore Regional Art Gallery's new exhibition, celebrates the history of forestry in Australia through a spectacular display of contemporary craft using historical timbers.

Cabinet by Adrian Potter

Hollow Vessel by Anthony Hansen

It is a unique exhibition that combines the use of rare and extinct timber samples from the Dadswell collection with the skills of some of the finest woodworkers and designers from across Australia.

Untitled by Georgina Donovan

Eric Dadswell was a pioneer in native forest research. His work during the 1930s documented, for the first time, the diversity of Australian Eucalypts.

The collection features some uncommon and now destroyed species of timber, and since it was established some of the forests where the timbers were harvested have been declared National Parks, reflecting our changing value of this natural resource.

Divided into three main themes, it explores crafting traditions, environmental shifts and the collection of the timbers.

The contemporary works on display are carved, assembled and turned from the now de-accessioned timbers. Each designer received billets of timber originally harvested from their home state. From the timber the artists have produced works of fragile beauty in appreciation of Australia's forests.

Rings of History runs at Lismore regional art gallery until September 9.