in.cube8r Gallery | Brisbane

BRISBANE, TREASURE TROVE — By Hide & Seek team on 20/09/2011 11:58 am

[slideshow width="600" height="400"]

http://www.hideseek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/incub8tr-A-cropped.jpg

http://www.hideseek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/incub8tr4-B-cropped.jpg

http://www.hideseek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/incub8tr7-D-cropped.jpg

http://www.hideseek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/incub8tr5-C-cropped.jpg

http://www.hideseek.com.au/wp-content/uploads/incub8tr6-E-cropped.jpg

[/slideshow]

Art for heart’s sake

Thinking outside the box comes easily to creative arty types, right? Which makes the concept behind in.cube8r a little ironic. This sleek store-cum-gallery puts Brisbane’s boutique artisans and crafters squarely on show, each displaying their handmade wares in cute glass cubicles that stack along the funky fuchsia-pink walls.

This is definitely the place to pick up that unusual, won’t-see-it-anywhere-else gift or objet d’art. And while the browser-buyer gets the thrill of taking home a ceramic ‘time machine’ brooch made from measuring tape or vintage fabric, the artists are secretly smiling too. You see, the good folk behind in.cube8r don’t charge commission on sales, just a flat rate (around $21 per week) to rent a cubicle, shelf or stand. It’s an empowering arrangement – the artists get 100% of the profits, and total say on how they’ll display, what price to charge and when to restock.

Who came up with such a clever idea? An artist, of course. Four years ago, the concept bubbled up from the brain of Melbourne glass-blower Issy Galey. While not exactly starving in a garret, Issy found herself at Centrelink signing up for a small-business course that gave her the smarts to launch her long-cherished dream – a gallery with no airs and graces but plenty of genuine desire to support aspiring creators of homemade pieces.

And it seems the artistic muse strikes in the strangest of places. Brisbane’s in.cube8r (there are also galleries in Melbourne and Sydney) stocks jewellery made by a former lawyer, fascinators fashioned by a health worker and watercolours daubed by a dancer.

Carole Horne

368 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley
(07) 3252 8654
www.incube8r.com.au
Open Tues & Wed 10am–5pm, Thurs & Fri 11am–6pm, Sat 10am–6pm, Sun 11am–3pm

[map width="600" height="400" lat="-27.458753" long="153.035747" zoom="15"]

Tags: BRISBANE, local designers, TREASURE TROVE