The Newcastle Chest 2010

Lionel Bawden
Sydney-based artist Lionel Bawden has been inspired by the booty in the bottom drawer of the Macquarie chest, which includes toucan bills, seed pods and a shark egg. Bawden has handcrafted a bower for the bottom drawer made entirely from coloured pencils. The form of these contemporary trinkets and baubles echoes the puzzling originals and provides a lure into a new imagined world.

^{Lionel Bawden Bower 2010
coloured Staedtler pencils, epoxy, incralac and
linseed oil, 11 forms, dimensions variable
courtesy the artist and Grantpirrie, Sydney}

^{The Newcastle Chest 2010
Commissioned by Newcastle Art Gallery
with the assistance of James and Judy Hart,
Robert and Lindy Henderson, Valerie Ryan,
Newcastle Art Gallery Society and
Newcastle Art Gallery Foundation
Newcastle Art Gallery collection}

^{Cabinetmaker Scott Mitchell
Australian red cedar (Toona ciliata),
NSW rosewood (Dysoxylum fraserianum),
River red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis),
tartan, glass and brass fittings
closed: 53.0 x 71.0 x 46.0 cm}

CURIOUS COLONY A twenty first century Wunderkammer is on display in the Gallery 10 July - 29 August 2010.