Visual Arts / Wrappers, by Ham Darroch. Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka, until September 22. Reviewed by KERRY ANNE COUSINS.

Ham Darroch has had an art practice in Canberra for two decades. Currently he works out of a studio in Gorman House.

Darroch has always been an artist who has found his creativity in many areas of the visual arts including performance art, painting and sculpture.

He has exhibited widely in Canberra as well in the Benjamin Parsons Gallery in the UK. His works are varied in style and materials but demonstrate a lively interest in shape, form and colour. His paintings can be large. Colour is used to enhance form and shape and to create a visual and emotional response.

He has recently also had two successful exhibitions in Brisbane. His work Fairground shown at Onespace in Brisbane in 2020 was 2m x 2m. His painting Counter Attack was his largest work to date (12m x 3.5m) and was shown at his solo exhibition at the Drill Hall Gallery in 2020. In 2023 his large work Piscina graced the foyer of the Canberra Glassworks as part of the Memphis Now group exhibition.

His latest project is on a more domestic scale at the Contemporary Art Space in Manuka. This space, the size of a large living room, has a long history in Canberra as a place where artists can experiment and feel free to make work that that is not subject to the constrictions of a more formal gallery.

The Manuka Art Space was offered unexpectedly to Darroch for two weeks.  The artist has risen to the challenge. His concept is to develop the exhibition in the gallery space over the two-week period. The work will be based on ideas from visitors to the gallery and his online Instagram audience.

At the centre of the concept is his choice of materials for the project. He could have made it easy but Darroch has chosen an unlikely material to work with. The (new) kebab takeaway bags do not at first seem to be a readily sympathetic vehicle for artwork. The long bags (27cmx10cm) are white on the outside but inside have a silver metallic lining. Some have a price list on one side while others are plain.  In the gallery the artist has made a long, curved plywood screen on which these takeaway bag creations are to be displayed.

I visited early but already there was a very credible Ned Kelly that Sidney Nolan might have recognised – a shooting comet, a window with curtains made from opening the bag, a reference to the Twin Towers in New York, a potent 21^st century symbol, and a homage to Josef Albers’ series of paintings called Homage to the Square.

There is also a version of the biggest gold nugget ever found and a very nice jug with the lining of the bag made into a metal handle. As an artist who is constantly creating for his diverse art practice, Darroch is obviously enjoying this exhibition and the challenge to his creativity.

Images of these works can be seen on the artist’s Instagram page. If you would like to participate, you can join in with ideas at instagram@wrappers-project. The final results of the project will be revealed at the closing exhibition party at Manuka Contemporary Art Space on September 22.