Abstract In recent years, there has been a significant rise in artists and arts educators working with found, discarded, and repurposed materials. The inventive ways these materials are sourced, collected, archived, transformed, curated, and presented carry strong ecological and socio-enviro meanings. Such practices respond to urgent cultural and ecological concerns, offering grounded portraits of place and material histories. Across Australia, artists including Carmel Wallace, Clare Milledge, Jessie French, and Narelle White have long engaged in upcycling and re-purposing practices that foreground environmental awareness within contemporary art.
This project presentation centres on the arts-practice research of Shelley Hannigan and Joseph Doggett-Williams. Shelley offers insight into sustainable arts practice in Australia through her own research and creative work, presented alongside that of Joseph, a young artist who has recently completed his Honours research. A significant dimension of this presentation is their intergenerational relationship as mother and son. Having grown up in a sustainability-focused household, Joseph’s practice has evolved in dialogue with Shelley’s longstanding commitment to environmentally conscious making.
Presented side by side, their work highlights two distinct yet interconnected approaches to sustainable arts practice, revealing how environmental values are interpreted, materialised, and reimagined across generations. Intergenerational learning—observing, reflecting on, and understanding each other’s creative methodologies—is positioned as central to this project. Their shared presentation advocates for collective movement toward environmentally responsible practices within the art world, emphasising collaboration, dialogue, and ongoing development in this space.
By situating their arts-practice research within broader Australian contexts of upcycling and material re-use, Shelley and Joseph address pressing socio-environmental issues.