RAGE Festival Brings Recycled Art to Euroa Over Easter Weekend

Artists from across Victoria unite in RAGE, the inaugural festival of recycled art to be held in Euroa over Easter weekend, 2 – 8 April 2026.

These 30 artists will present 60 artworks made from between 95 – 100% recycled materials, demonstrating that discarded materials are not the end of a story, but the beginning of another.

For many, recycling is deeply personal. Adriana Di Statio’s transformation of vintage textiles and beach-found treasures is rooted in childhood memories of crocheting beside her mother and grandmother, women who wasted nothing and passed down both skill and reverence for materials. Her work honours tradition while pushing it into new artistic territory. Similarly, Judy Wright reimagines worn denim as a site of renewal, turning everyday fabric into creative possibility.

Others draw inspiration from the land and regional life. Peter King and Darren Gilbert source salvaged metal from farms, sheds and homes across Victoria, embracing the resourcefulness embedded in rural culture. Rusted steel, weathered by time, carries the sounds and stories of its past life. Through intuitive design and subtle colour, these materials are elevated into sculptural forms that honour both history and landscape.

Environmental urgency is a powerful driver. Liz Walker’s shoreline collections of plastic debris and natural fragments shaped by tide and wind become meditations on consumption and responsibility. Candy Stevens critiques colonisation and environmental damage, recycling her own ephemeral grass sculptures into new works that speak to cycles of change and regeneration. Michelle Newton extends this ethos into community practice, empowering others through hands-on upcycling and demonstrating that sustainability can be joyful, social and accessible.

For Carmel Wallace, recycled materials strengthen connections to place and deepen environmental awareness, while another exhibiting artist explores the alchemical potential of casting and experimentation — subverting traditional sculptural hierarchies by transforming the overlooked into artefacts rich with memory, scent and autobiography.

Together, these artists reveal recycled art as more than a material choice, but a philosophy. It challenges systems of excess, honours inherited knowledge, celebrates regional ingenuity and invites audiences to reconsider the value of what we throw away. In their hands, waste becomes witness, history becomes material, and art becomes an act of regeneration.

Materiality

RAGE brings together a dynamic collection of artworks created almost entirely from reclaimed and recycled materials. Scrap metal and salvaged steel feature prominently, transformed from discarded industrial fragments, decommissioned machinery and found hardware into striking sculptural forms. Alongside these robust elements, artists repurpose soft plastics, packaging, bubble wrap and beach-found debris, drawing attention to the environmental impact of everyday waste.

Natural materials, including fallen timber, bark, native flora, gourds and dried leaves, are interwoven with recycled textiles such as wool, rope, tapestry and reclaimed clothing, creating works that balance strength with delicacy. Paper and print materials, from recycled egg cartons to woven encyclopaedia pages, are reimagined through cutting, binding and sculptural techniques.

Together, the works demonstrate the creative potential of reuse. Industrial remnants, domestic objects and organic matter are diverted from landfill and reassembled into thoughtful, innovative artworks. The exhibition highlights both the environmental urgency of material consumption and the transformative power of contemporary recycled art.

About RAGE

RAGE presents its inaugural Recycled Art Exhibition — a celebration exploring the war on waste while tapping into the creativity, innovation and talent thriving in local communities. The exhibition showcases artworks that use discarded materials to reimagine their original purpose.

Created by the local community, RAGE is a project from the Rotary Club of Euroa, and the concept was developed by local artist and Festival Project Manager, Helen Brook.

RAGE celebrates the power of imagination — or rather, reimagination — where discarded materials are transformed into striking, thought-provoking sculptures. The exhibition will award $3000 to an artist whose work demonstrates a clever use of materials while no longer representing their original form or function.

More information: rageeuroa.com.au