The eighth annual Sculpture at Scenic World is now open, with 25 sculptures installed on the rainforest floor at the Katoomba tourist attraction.
Many of the entries have an environmental theme or basis and a large number have reused materials, much of which would have been thrown into landfill.
Foremost among these is Jan Cleveringa, whose work, The Corporate Snake, is made up of about 25,000 fluorescent light tubes.
Others have used discarded signs, metal found on building sites, even plastic wrap, which Melbourne artist Elizabeth West gathered from a number of sources and refashioned into a waterfall, called Cascade.
Heidi McGeoch used old 44-gallon drums, on which she perforated various motifs for Iron Clad; first-time exhibitor, local Georgina Galea, used eucalyptus leaves for her work, Y, and Kate Sylvester spent more than 40 hours de-threading two men's T-shirts in a commentary on consumption habits and labour called In Every Tee.
The winner of the $25,000 major prize was Wendy Teakel, whose work, Cycle, is made of sheep fleece, rusted wire and steel.
The exhibition is on until May 12, showing daily during Scenic World's opening hours. For details see www.sculptureatscenicworld.com.au.
There are also a number of works around the Upper Mountains, including at the Cultural Centre, the Fairmont Resort, Carrington Hotel, Blue Mountains YHA and Braemar Gallery in Springwood.