by Belinda Evans

interview with Michelle Walker and Chainsaw Newton

In the Circular Timber: From Salvage to Showcase exhibition, Michelle Walker and Chainsaw Newton present Bough ’n’ Beam — a collection of artist brushes, mark-making tools, and ink pens made from reclaimed hardwoods. These tools are not only functional but also carry the layered history of their material origins: trees once part of the Big Scrub rainforest, later structural timbers in local homes, now repurposed as objects for creativity. 

Michelle Walker brings to the project a practice shaped by her background in environmental science and her evolving focus on natural and reclaimed materials. “My practice is based on an art-nature-science background and is a visceral response to Australia's terrain,” she explains. “Today, my practice is framed by what materials are available to me from the land—what I can make, grow and reclaim.” 

Working with offcuts and small timber pieces, Walker was drawn to their varied colours and imperfections. “I wanted to use smaller pieces that I knew the guys making furniture and larger works weren’t going to need,” she says. Rather than hiding faults like nail holes or splits, she saw these as features to be preserved. “They have an embodiment of their story... it's part of the joy of using reclaimed materials.” 

The making process coincided with a cyclone warning, a period of uncertainty that brought added meaning to her work. “I was watching how close the flood was coming to the top of the levee in Lismore and working with the pieces,” she recalls. “The timber was kind of the conduit for that story for me.” 

Walker invited Chainsaw Newton to contribute to the turning and shaping of the tools. A sculptor working exclusively with reclaimed wood, Newton views timber reuse as a natural extension of his environmental values. “So much is wasted,” he says. “It seems frivolous not to make use of the discarded resources around me.” 

Newton embraces the marks of history embedded in old timber. “Each hole, crack, mark and fault in the timber speaks of history,” he notes. “If wood tells a story—who am I to hide the previous chapters?” Some pieces used in the project still bore century-old saw marks. “Those woodworkers are lost to history, but evidence of their work survives 100 years after them... the fragrance of that newly finished wood... is the exact same fragrance those people experienced then.” 

Walker describes the resulting objects as “a handmade tool that is an art tool to express one's creative self,” reflecting a continuum — from tree, to home, to creative tool. Newton sees the act of reuse itself as meaningful. “Creating something new from old remnants is a way to move forward while paying homage to what was before — but without forgetting the past.” 

Together, the Bough ’n’ Beam collection demonstrates how reclaimed timber can serve both function and reflection, linking environmental awareness with the tactile intimacy of the handmade. 

Bough 'n' Beam process

A selection of images documenting Michelle and Chainsaw's process.

Photos by Michelle Walker.