Alexander Ouchtomsky

Originally from Queensland, Alexander Ouchtomsky is a recent graduate from RMIT's Fine Arts (Painting) course. Alexander has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Melbourne including Skin and Bones in 2008 and 2009 (Penthouse Mouse, BUS Projects), Zero & Not (45 Downstairs), Canadian Pharmacy (Neon Parc) and the Sustainable Living Festival in 2009 and 2010.

Battle Toad, 2009, mixed media

Alexander Ouchtomsky's work is constructed by a means of collecting and hoarding various different plastics, organic matter, toys, sports equipment and helmets. By piecing together these various two dimensional and three dimensional examples of western consumer waste either by collage or construction, his work draws connections between the forgotten histories of suburban waste and the possible potential of these objects as lost segments of an imagined civilisation.

www.dorkusmelorkis.blogspot.com

For Insert Coin Here, Alexander has created a special series of small sculptures, of which several of pictured below:

Dracunculiasis reign supreme, 2010, found plastics

Hibiscus happy meal, 2010, found plastics

Lobster and triceratops headdress for flamboyant storm trooper, 2010, found plastics

Paramite, 2010, found plastics

Toxo, 2010, found plastics

Amy Borrell

Amy Borrell is a freelance graphic designer, photographer and illustrator for Mambo, Frankie Magazine and Darren Hanlon. She is the founder of Bakers Dozen, and runs a collaborative blog with Luci Everett (who designed the identity for Insert Coin Here) entitled We Make Words.

Her work was recently included in The Photo Album, published in 2009 by Frankie Magazine.

Award Ribbon Brooches, 2010, felt, paper, brooch pin

Sweet and petit award ribbon brooches, made from handcut paper and felt, in happy splashes of colour. Intended for wear on days that need a little brightening.

www.cakewithgiants.blogspot.com

Andrea Eckersley

Andrea Eckersley majored in Fashion through both a Bachelor of Design and Arts at RMIT before completing a Visual Arts Degree at Emily Carr University (Canada). She has exhibited at c3, West Space (Melbourne) and Instead Gallery (Vancouver).

Andrea is currently undertaking her Masters of Fine Arts (Painting) at Monash University.

Jazz Hands, 2010, fabric

Andrea Eckersley is primarily interested in the way the body interacts with abstract shapes, both 2D and 3D. Jazz Hands is a series of abstract fabric sculptures, designed for the hand. This set of 10 finger covers is forever missing the obscure fashionable gloves they may have come from. Fashion can be a multitude of things, from a business to an art to an attitude. But one thing that is consistent through these various accounts is the experience of the dressed body in space and time. The city is itself a fashion spectacle, a parade of bodies and styles. Jazz Hands joins this parade, offering the wearer a chance to flaunt a fancy pinky or hide that precious pointer in your pocket. Be fabulous with a furry digit, or sparkle with sequins, Insert Coin Here offers access to jazz hands on the go.

Anita Cummins

Anita Cummins is an emerging artist who made her debut appearance with her installation Pantone Pom-Pom at Mailbox 141 in 2009. She graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Creative Arts. Anita is an artist who dabbles in many (usually craft-based) mediums and has recently launched a commercial range of handmade scarves under her own name. She also teaches classes in pom-pom making at the Victorian Tapestry Workshop and has big plans in the pipelines for her pom-poms.

Chad Catcher, 2010, chads, spray paint, paper, string

The Chad Catcher is inspired by office leftovers such as the ‘chad’ left behind by the hole-punch and paper from the office shredder. These paper scraps are gathered and reinterpreted by artist Anita Cummins into talismans for your home and office.

To read more about Anita, click here.

Antuong Nguyen

Antuong Nguyen is a multidisciplinary artist and film director based in Melbourne, Australia.

Antuong's works have been shown both nationally and internationally, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (London), Transmediale Festival (Berlin), Melbourne International Film Festival, Australian Centre of Moving Image, Centre for Contemporary Photography, and Seventh Gallery.

He successfully completed a BFA in Painting at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2001.

Finding Each Other, 2010, Print on Paper (100gsm Free Life Smooth White), 297 mm x 334 mm, edition of 15

Finding Each Other is a text-based meditation on the chance encounters between two individuals in this modern age of technology. In this context, within the material form of a shiny little plastic capsule. By sharing his favourite line from a novel written by Banana Yoshimoto, Antuong hopes to shine a light to his psyche, brighten up someone's day, and bridge the gap between stranger and confidante.

Beck Jobson

Beck Jobson is a compulsive doodler, collector of castoffs, hack photographer, music lover, maker of stuff and long term metal fan.

Left: Diamond Dave, circa 1978, Mixed media front-man, dimensions variable.

Right: $10 worth of Jamaican bunk reefer, 2010, Spandex and plastic pendant, dimensions variable.

The Panama collection is a self referencing celebration of the magnificence of Spandex, inspired by the one and only, Mr. David Lee Roth.

www.dumbdrawings.blogspot.com

www.handmadelife.blogspot.com

Ben Landau

Ben Landau is a young designer working in experimental, exhibition, event and theatre design. He creates unique experiences for users and audiences – from delightful puppet encounters to informative exhibitions and engaging theatre pieces.

Ben works from the perspective of the user, to understand how to best inform, connect with or entertain them. He hopes to travel and work with creative companies of various disciplines, in Australia and abroad.

my scrap, 2010, various materials

I’m in the process of moving, de-cluttering my life, and ultimately getting rid of the op shop junk, the side of the road ‘finds’ the bits and pieces I couldn’t bear to part with. I’ve distilled this collection of beautiful objects down to a few, from which I’ve taken a small token, almost a glimpse of the whole object, and framed it as an object itself.

I hope to lessen the emotional impact of my culling, and offer a $2 physical peep show into my discarded detritus.

www.benlandau.com

Brittany Veitch

Brittany Veitch is a felt and soft sculpture artist trained as an Industrial Designer. Brittany makes handsewn toys under her label, The Vibrant City, which was launched in 2007. In 2009, Brittany collaborated with Ben Landau to present Bio-Accessories at the City Library niches as part of Craft Victoria's Craft Cubed festival program. In the same year Brittany was part of Veni, Vidi, Vici, a group exhibition at C3 Contemporary Art Space with Katie Jacobs and Rohani Osman.

Pardon My French!, 2010, felt, chain, thread

French profanity, curse with style. Hand-embroidered felt speech bubbles in black, de rigueur for Melbourne chic, slung from gaudy gold chain.

Pardon my French! is a tongue in check expression of fashion frivolities mixing cheap material, commonly associated with mass production, with traditional craftsmanship skills to bring a subtle quality to what is an essentially crude trinket.

Emblazoned in finely detailed hand stitching, Zut!, a French expletive, pays homage to Paris, France, an icon for fashion.

And so to this folly, say oui oui, and curse to your heart’s content.

www.thevibrantcity.blogspot.com

Caleb Shea

Caleb Shea recently completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) in Sculpture from RMIT. He has participated in exhibitions at RMIT's First Site Gallery, George Paton Gallery at the University of Melbourne, Monash University Faculty Gallery and in 2008, Caleb's work was exhibited as part of the Australian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale.

"Pit - Mini", 1-10, 2010, Tasmanian Oak

Must establish one’s repute or position.

A determination towards a certain form or invented statement that forms a break in continuity of strata and vein.

Form and Line occupy a central place; they are constantly being solicited and refused; they are objects of obsession and attraction, a dreadful secret, and an indispensable pivot.

Brief melodic or rhythmic formula out of which longer passages are developed.

These continuous extensions can be viewed with or without reference to the existence of objects within them, they unfold, open out in due sequence.

Dark shadow against light background, having length, breadth and depth. Any part of the earth’s surface and everything annexed to it.

www.calebshea.com

Carmel McKie

Chloe Vallance

Chloe Vallance is a fine artist who has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions since graduating from RMIT in 2009. Her work has been shown at Seventh Gallery, Handheld Gallery, Pigment Gallery and at First Site RMIT Union Gallery. Chloe was recognised as one of the best students from 2008's graduate exhibitions across Australia and New Zealand in a review by Art World magazine (p.146, Feb/Mar 2009).

Walking Dolls, colour pencil on timber, 2008/2010

Walking Dolls was developed as a response to an RMIT fashion show in 2007 and was further influenced from a trip to New York in 2008. It led me to consider the similarities between the models and small dolls. I was interested in capturing the simplicity of intimacy experienced by each figure, a moment at a time.

www.chloevallance.com

Dani Maugeri

Dani Maugeri is a ceramacist and jeweller living and working in Melbourne. In 2001 she launched her label 'Dani M Designs' and has since released 8 collections. Her work is stocked at Alice Euphemia and Craft Victoria and Dani recently held an exhibition at Craft Victoria's enCOUNTER window which entitled Fix Up Look Sharp, consisting of her latest range of porcelain crystal shards.

What do you expect for two bucks!, 2010, ceramic, silver findings

If the work had a title it would be “what do you expect for two bucks!”

Whilst I wish to give the consumer a nice surprise when they open their egg and be delighted by the bounty of jewels they find…I simply can’t afford to.

So, what costs me next to nothing? Scraps!

Each egg will have a collection of porcelain off cuts and scraps that I have carefully chosen to glaze and fire. The new owner will find a piece of silk cord and maybe a brooch backing that they can use to assemble the scraps into an individual item of jewellery.

www.danimdesigns.swappler.com

Dawn Tan

Originally from Singapore, Dawn Tan is currently a Fine Arts (Painting) student at the Victorian College of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited at Margaret Lawrence Gallery (Melbourne), Off the Kerb (Melbourne) and she has held solo exhibitions at the Red Dot Design Museum and Studio Miu Art in Singapore.

Dawn's illustrated prints and zines can be found online on Etsy and Baker's Dozen, and Mandrake & Willow and Meet Me at Mike's in Melbourne.

Mountain Tea , 2010, paper, plastic, string

I have always been rather fond and intrigued of mountains.

Growing up in tropical isle-city-state Singapore, there was not an alp I could beg my parents for a daytrip to roll around on. I lived in a concrete skyscraper and zipped through a cityscape.

Many years later in Melbourne, I found myself walking hours through parklands and gardens to school and back. Each day, I would pick rocks, twigs in funny shapes, leaves, and simple bits of nature. These items somehow brought me closer to my love for the mountains and woodlands, and I started painting alps.

I also love patterns, which could have stemmed from my trips to the David Jones Food Hall. I really enjoy looking at beautiful packaging and seek them whenever I am in need for some pretty patterns. The typeface, illustrations, layout and borders on the boxes always make me a little dreamy.

I like to imagine myself sipping tea from a cabin overlooking snow-capped mountains with intricate patterns. This tiny brooch I have made, allows me to wear my imagination close to heart, lending me space to dream a little more.

www.hand-made-love.blogspot.com

Deirdre Hoban

Deirdre Hoban studied Metals and Jewellery at Monash University, completing her Honours Degree in 2008. She has exhibited and curated an exhibition at the Abbotsford Convent and been a finalist in the Victorian Ceramic Art Award.

Although she works in different materials, nearly everything that Deirdre makes is based on straight lines and triangles, it may seem limiting to work within these constraints but so far the possibilities have been endless.

Colourful Bucket, 2009, cotton rope, porcelain, spray paint, photographic paper (jewellery dimensions vary)

The concept for Insert Coin Here reminded me of the lucky dip at school fetes, I would always blow heaps of my cash there and was rarely disappointed.

So I looked through my studio for the odds and ends that I never managed to work into finished pieces, that have been waiting for their time to shine. I combined them with some special rope, which I have been holding on to for longer than I can remember, and worked these materials into magical new works, which I trust will not disappoint.

www.deirdre.com.au