What is Cardcrete?

Cardcrete is a sculptural material developed by Perth Artist Penny Brooshooft in her Eclette studio. It is created from recycled cardboard and paper collected locally, which is broken down into a pulp and combined with binding agents to form a clay-like medium.

The resulting material can be shaped, carved and built up by hand, allowing it to function both as a sculptural medium and as a surface for highly textured relief painting.

In principle, Cardcrete shares similarities with traditional papier-mâché, but it has been refined to create a much denser and more durable material suitable for long-lasting artworks.

 

A Material Made from Reclaimed Paper

At the core of Cardcrete is a commitment to working with reclaimed and repurposed materials.

Discarded cardboard and paper are collected locally and reprocessed in the studio into a workable pulp. This transformation gives everyday materials a second life, turning them into a substance capable of holding form, texture and architectural relief.

Through this process, Cardcrete becomes both a sustainable art material and a way of engaging with the idea of reuse and transformation.

Sculptural and Surface Versatility

One of the defining characteristics of Cardcrete is its versatility.

The material can be used in multiple ways:


  • Sculptural forms – built and shaped into three-dimensional objects such as vessels and freestanding sculptures


  • Relief surfaces – applied to panels to create richly textured grounds for painting


  • Architectural textures – built, layered and eroded to produce surfaces reminiscent of aged plaster or fresco walls


Because it behaves similarly to a clay while wet, Cardcrete allows forms to be modelled directly by hand. Once cured, it becomes rigid and durable while retaining the tactile evidence of its making.

Durability and Longevity

Although Cardcrete originates from paper, it becomes a strong and stable material once set.

It is suitable for indoor artworks and sculptural wall pieces, maintaining its structure over time while remaining relatively lightweight compared to many traditional sculptural materials.

While durable, Cardcrete is not fully waterproof and is therefore best suited for interior artworks and protected environments.

Texture and the Language of Surface

Many of Penny Brooshooft's artworks explore the expressive possibilities of surface.

Cardcrete lends itself particularly well to this approach because it can be:


  • layered


  • eroded


  • built into relief


These processes create surfaces that echo the appearance of weathered plaster, ancient fresco fragments, and architectural remains, giving the works a sense of history and tactile depth.

A Studio Material

Cardcrete is produced in small batches within the studio and is the medium of  choice for artist Penny Brooshooft.

Each artwork carries the marks of its making; the irregularities of hand shaping, the layered construction of the surface, and the transformation of reclaimed materials into something enduring.

The material itself becomes part of the story of the work: a quiet transformation of discarded paper into sculptural form.