Jo McFadyen

Jo McFadyen is an artist based in Kinglake, Victoria. Jo studied a Bachelor of Arts in Ceramics at RMIT, but wanting to explore a different medium she began experimenting with shellac - a natural environmentally-friendly resin made from the secretions of the female lac beetle.

“I was attracted by its durability and UV resistant properties, and my aim was to transfer and utilise the old technique of French polishing,” she says.

“The corrugated cardboard I work on is what most artists would call ‘a happy accident’, evolving from an accidental spillage in the studio many years ago.”

She works from a small studio on Taungurang Country and is an active member of her local Kinglake artistic community, teaching drawing to both adults and children. Last year she worked with six local primary schools to put on a large group exhibition of children’s artwork with over 300 works.

In response to climate change, she works primarily with upcycled materials, sourcing cardboard and shellac flakes second-hand.

“I have discovered no two resins are the same. It is this unpredictability of shellac during the application process that excites me, I never quite know what to expect.”

Awards
Yering Station Sculpture Award (finalist)

Solo Exhibitions
Tyger Gallery - Linescape, 2024
Nillumbik Shire Gallery - Cardboard Drought, 2024

Selected Group Exhibitions
Eltham Art Show, 2023
Montsalvat Art Centre - Ecology-Go Green, 2023
Dindi Open Studios, 2022
Kinglake Ranges Virtual Exhibition, 2021
Brunswick Street Gallery - Small Works, 2021

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