Cult candle-maker moves into Egg & Dart shop in Wollongong, for one month only

But don't expect any to go brown or mouldy.

The tomatoes, lemons, grapes and fennel bulbs are the work of candlemaker Madeline Hoy who creates lifelike candles by hand in her Port Kembla studio.

A nod to her great grandfather Giuseppe, who migrated from Italy to set up a fruit shop in Daylesford, the wax candles at Nonna's Grocer are perfectly imperfect versions of household fruits.

For the next month, Ms Hoy's wares will be on display at the Shop extension of the Egg & Dart gallery.

It's a first test of the gallery's idea of a store, but gallerist Aaron Fell-Fracasso said the idea was nothing like the traditional gift shops attached to art museums.

"We're looking to invite makers, artists and designers and curate a selection of items that will be for sale," he said.

"It's not going to be the same things that are in the gallery. What Egg & Dart likes, Egg & Dart will put in."

As the first tenant of the shop space, Ms Hoy said she was drawn to the red and pink colour scheme inside to create a playful but intimate dinner-scape.

"This room just evokes fun."

In addition to the candles themselves, which are surrounded by tablewares scoured from op-shops, there are a few "real" food items, but good luck guessing which is which. Opening less than a month from Christmas, Ms Hoy said the shop window evoked the Christmas displays in department store windows, which also blended the fantastic and the "real" and created a world in themselves.

"Kind of like how Christmas windows are fun to peer into."

Nonnas Grocers will occupy the shop window alongside Egg & Dart's Xmas Show.

The group show, on display until December 23, showcases a number of works from the gallery's roster of artists, as well as a few friends of the Keira Street institution.

Mr Fell-Fracasso said the over 100 works in the show were not always in the artists' typical styles.

"Some are kind of irregular from some of the artists, artworks that may be a little bit more of an experiment or a trial."

Just like Ms Hoy's description of the shopfront, the final exhibition of the year will take a playful approach, Mr Fell-Fracasso said.

"It's a bit of fun."