Cake Industries are pushing the limits of sculptural artworks at the Art Gallery of Ballarat

Dean Petersen, 44, and Jesse Stevens, 27, of Cake Industries have launched their new exhibition, 08.26am, which consists of a collection of old and new mechatronic art pieces.

Mechatronics consists of a combination of engineering electronic and mechanical systems, often appearing robotic in nature.

The pair have been working with the form of art since 2006, stemming from their love of similar artists such as Jim Whiting.

"We've been working with mechatronics since about 2006," Stevens said.

"We're heavily inspired by artists like Jim Whiting... we both have strong memories of watching TV and seeing his Herbie Hancock film clip, tuning out the music and just admiring these semi-humanoid and abstract mechanical spaces he created."

Petersen added providing a sense of humor to their works is an important aspect to stop pieces appearing too dark and dry.

"For us bringing objects to life is a way for us to perform through those objects," Petersen said.

"There's a darkness that permeates all of our work however there's also a lot of humor and whimsy... it's almost fantastical rather than too dry and dark.

"In a way we're hoping people can come away from the exhibition feeling like they've been to a dark carnival... an unexplainable experience that needs to be seen."

These sentiments were shared by Art Gallery curator Julie McLaren, who said she had been watching the pair for some time.

"I've had my eye on Jesse and Dean for a while now. I love their work, I love their sense of humor," she said.

"They're incredibly clever... when they approached us creating this series of works I thought it was a really great opportunity to support some local talent but also about challenging perceptions about what sort of exhibitions regional galleries display.

A series of mechatronic sculptures isn't something you may expect to be in a gallery that was established in 1890.

Art Gallery of Ballarat curator Julie McLaren

"What really draws me to their work is that you can't really categorise it like you can a painter or photographer, they employ so many different techniques in their work in a creative, playful way."

The exhibition is open from 10am-5pm each day and will run until March 22.

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