Talents not put to waste

NOT many people can take steel scraps and turn them into pieces of art, but that’s exactly what local artist Andre Sardone has been doing for years.

Living at his Mandurang property in the Greater Bendigo National Park with partner and nature photographer Bridget Finch, Sardone works away in his backyard creating magnificent artworks.

Now, Sardone and Finch are bringing their art to a new exhibition at Dudley House on 19 June called Steel Life.

“Bridget’s taken a lot of photos of the birds and nature on our property and a lot of my sculptures, which are mainly recycled materials, are inspired by nature around us here,” Sardone said.

The idea for the exhibition was born during the COVID-19 lockdown last year, which saw the artistic couple turn to their backyard for inspiration.

Sardone said while the restrictions have brought hardships for a lot of people, he does enjoy working at home in his shed.

“Bridget had been taking a lot of photos, I had had all my events cancelled, the exhibitions I had planned originally last year were cancelled,” he said.

“We were looking to something when lockdown finished, and we sort of came up with the idea of a collaborative exhibition November last year.

“In some ways it’s been really good for me because I do crave having time in here and I just want to spend time here and it suits that side of it.

“Exhibiting wise made it hard, with artwork it’s a visual medium and needs to be seen by audience.”

Sardone, who has worked as a roof plumber for over 25 years, started using leftover Colourbond steel to create art in 2003.

When he moved to Bendigo, he worked next door to Sandhurst Steel Processing and was frustrated by the amount of waste he would see.

“The world is suffering from too much waste and not being able to process it well enough,” he said. “I get great satisfaction out of it. Most of the materials I use were destined to be waste.

“On building sites, each house that gets built there’s seven skips full of waste that get shoved into the ground, where most of it could be recycled.

“For every 10 houses built I reckon you could build a house with the waste that’s thrown. There’s lots of opportunities for recycling and my artwork’s one of them.”

Running alongside Sardone and Finch’s exhibition will be the Shimmer installation, a recycled, kinetic piece funded by the City of Greater Bendigo’s Creative Recovery Grant.

Steel Life will be on display at Dudley House from 19 June to 27 June.