Central Queensland artist Peta Lloyd is a 'collector, a thing finder - a bowerbird'.
Setting the scene for her exhibition titled, The Wonder Room, Lloyd, took residents, staff and families on a journey of how her Wonder Room come to be at the opening of her exhibtion.
"It relates directly to my home studio which is named, Bower Bird Studio. If you step inside my studio you will find a range of items, form plan drawers, large tables, an etching press, a bookcase crammed with books and catalogues, as well as the collections and oddities I have on shelves and benches all around the studio."
"These house treasures from hand turned containers, boxes and tins, all proudly displaying their oddities and delights of bones and stones, animal skulls, rusty bottle tops, seedpods, earth pigments, game pieces, light globes, dolly pegs, driftwood, butterflies, spiders and beetles, buckles and strings... as well as all other kinds of curious and interesting things that makes me the bower bird I am!
"Inside the Wonder Room exhibition, you will explore shadow boxes, shrines, black boxes, and cigar boxes."
Peta wants viewers to immerse themselves in her artworks and travel through imagined lives in curious settings; from railway stations in the USA, to fantasy worlds where toads can fly with silver dragonflies, a pig can accompany a time traveler and snail shells can sit within a broken fine China tea cup.
As you explore Peta hopes viewers will see her enjoyment and curiosity with working with found objects and within that you will find a story for yourself.
Peta confesses her "artwork is finally complete, when you, the viewer, responds to the artwork to create your own story."
The Wonder Room will be on display until the 24th of September in our Long Gallery. Entry is free and open to the general pubic daily from 9am-4pm.
