no r t h east
regional extra 25,000 READERS EVERY WEEK
28 march - 3 april 2018
by KYLIE WILSON
◆ WHAT A BOTTLER: Sculptor Jo Voigt with some of the PET bottles she has colleceted to create an environmentally themed sculpture for this weekend’s inaugural Golden Art Fair in Beechworth. PHOTO: Wendy Stephens.
Golden creativity
A SCULPTOR who has worked in a range of different media over the years, Beechworth’s Jo Voigt sees “at least one thing every day” that reminds her “how beautiful and creative the world is”, particularly when it comes to the natural world. Her latest project will form an indelible part of a brand new Beechworth Arts Council event taking place over this Easter long weekend during the Golden Horseshoes Festival, the Golden Art Fair. The project, a major installation made from recyclable polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, will form the entrance way to the fair. Jo said it will also be an interactive piece where members of the public can contribute their own “message in a bottle” that will in turn inspire a writing based Beechworth Arts Council project. The piece will be entitled Liquid Gold, a commentary on the high intrinsic and environmental cost of bottled water, and Jo said using as much recyclable, sustainable and/or upcycled materials as possible in her work is very important to her. “It’s about closing that recycling loop,” she said A dedicated artist, Jo grew up surrounded by people making things - whether it was craft made by her mother and grandmother, or functional farm items welded together by her father – and it inspired her to do the same. “It is my way of understanding the world around me,” she said.
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