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Chainsaw Newton

Roll Models 2024

Dung beetles: reclaimed and charred timber
Dung beetle balls: recycled materials
200 x 1000 x 1000 cm

Due to unforeseen circumstances, this artwork cannot be displayed.

About the Work

Roll Models depicts a series of larger-than-life dung beetles, in various dung beetleesque poses with their ‘dung balls’, on the beach. These balls are made out of discarded items left on the beach. Collecting the rubbish into large balls and moving them across the beach marks the dung beetles’ attempt at re-use, recycle, rebirth.

The work includes three dung beetles made from local reclaimed timber, charred and polished to give a high sheen, and two large spheres. One sphere comprises bright, coloured plastics; the other sphere contains a conglomerate of scrap metal, copper wires, aluminium cans and street signs. One dung beetle is positioned with its head down pushing a recycled material sphere with his hind legs (a play on the iconic Aussie worker’s pose: “head down, bum up”), while the other two beetles are working in unison to navigate their rubbish sphere dung ball across the landscape.

About the Artist

Chainsaw Newton is a self-taught chainsaw woodcarver and sculptor in the small village of Chinderah, Northern Rivers, NSW.

His work reveals an imaginative, often whimsical or humorous abstraction of simple elements sourced and inspired by his local environment.

His materials bear their history upon themselves—woodcuts and knot-holes speak of their story and its origins.

Chainsaw exclusively uses reclaimed woods and timbers, frequently sourcing and restoring vintage woodworking tools and chainsaws from garage sales.

Some of his catchphrases are as follows:

• “new is fleeting but old is forever”
• “I believe there’s an intrinsic beauty in giving materials and tools a second life”
• “happiness is a loud chainsaw”.

Chainsaw’s work often features local fauna as his narrative vehicle.

Ephemera 2023 saw Chainsaw Newton’s debut at The Strand, with his collection of large-scale sea shell creatures roaming the beachfront.