The exhibition, entitled For dust you are and to dust you will return, features a series of canvas, photographic and moving picture works utilising charcoal collected from areas impacted by the 2019-20 bushfires.

Mr Woods will launch the exhibition at Kandos' Wayout Space this Saturday, and hopes the exhibition will evoke emotions with locals who had to live through the dramatic Black Summer period.

"The exhibition not only looks at the recent bushfires, but also mortality, death, 'memento mori' and lamentation," he said.

"I've crafted this collection to start discussions and express views around the cycle of life and the biblical concepts of time."

The name of Mr Woods' exhibition comes from The Bible's book of Genesis, where God banishes Adam from the Garden of Eden for breaking the rules.

Mr Woods said the exhibition first came into fruition from a video piece he started to develop in 2020 making use of charcoal to symbolise the deceased.

"I've since added a layer of smoke to represent the lifeforce of a spirit leaving the mortal coil, and it sprouted my inspiration for continuing to work with charcoal," he said.

"But there's a bit more to it: a close friend of mine passed away shortly after, and as he was in the UK at the onset of COVID-19, his family faced a bit of a battle to bring his body home.

"That event hit me pretty hard, and it only drove me to delve deeper into expressing these feelings towards death and mortality through art."

Mr Woods said other key aspect of the exhibition is a series of 12 charcoal-drawn skulls reflecting the cycle of a single year, and charcoal pressings resembling stars in the sky.

"When you're using different forms of charcoal, you always get slight variations in texture and form, so there's never the same, uniform result," he said.

"The human body is also significantly comprised of carbon, the prevalent element in charcoal, so the exhibition is a succinct representation of how humans and the natural world are composed of similar materials, and how our lives are preceded and succeeded by dust."

Mr Woods was originally due to launch the exhibition in October, but was delayed due to COVID-19.

The exhibition will be on display at Kandos' Wayout Space until Sunday, February 13.

For more information, visit cementa.com.au/wayout.

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