Artist Statement 2023 - PAINTINGS -Bottles in the Sun (Oils), Family and Upside down (Gouache and Acrylic)
It has been a while since I have looked at this website and it really needs updating! In case you are wondering I have not been doing a lot of ceramics lately. A combination of needing something new and logistics being that we have moved into an apartment so needed something a bit more portable. So for the last year or so I have been painting! I have been loving the freedom it provides me to explore and play. The best thing is the colour you mix and use on the canvas or board basically stays the same ...... unlike the firing process which alters colour in ceramics glazes. I have been using gouache and oils mostly, mainly because I can mix or reactivate the colours easily as I the painting evolves. My exposure to all the years of leaning at TAFE and UNSW art and design, has helped me with adapting to the new 2 D form. I am loving recreating old family photographs, and exploring emotions of joy and play with a Swings and Upside down series using gouache and acrylics. I am also working on a series of Bottles in the Sun - or bottled emotions - in Oils. Amber Creswell Bell has selected my piece Bottles in the Sun for her 2023 ACB selects on line show in association with National Emerging art Prize. I am proud and grateful for the recognition from Amber who is a great supporter of emerging artists. Artist statement 2019 - CERAMICS - Hearts and Boats I am interested in the historical and cultural commonalities of human experiences and emotions that surround leaving a homeland . I have recently been exploring the inscriptions on Australian convict love tokens. The emotional phrases carved into small copper coins are sent to loved ones. So many people are being displaced in our current world, and I aim to highlight the emotions of yearning and love that can be felt by writing on many of my sculptural works. Melissa creates ceramic sculptures and artworks, often with additions of various materials, such as rusty steel wires, nails and copper. She has studied at TAFE and UNSW Art and Design. She continues to learn and explore different glazing and firing techniques working from her home in Sydney where she lives with her family. Melissa has exhibited in Sydney and Sculpture by the Sea- Bondi. In 2018 she was the winner of the Northbridge art prize, Sculpture division and received a merit award at the National Ceramics Prize, Hazelhurst gallery NSW. PRIZES/EXHIBTIONS -Updated 2023 AWARDS 2018 – Merit award – 50th National Pottery competition Hazelhurst gallery , Sutherland Shire NSW 2018 – Northbridge Art Prize – Winner of Category (3D, Ceramics, textile, installation) 2017 – Royal Easter Show Art prize winner (glaze category) 2013 – Hunters Hill Harbour Sculpture Exhibition, Stipend winner EXHIBITIONS 2023 Finalist - ACB Selects- Amber Creswell Bell curated online show. 2020 - Finalist - National Emerging Art Prize Ceramics 2020 - Finalist Harbourside Sculpture Exhibition - Balmain 2020 - Group ceramics show -Incinerator Willoughby 2019- Flux- End of Year exhibition Brookvale School of Ceramics. 2019- Gosford Art Prize Exhibtion. 2019 - Group Show at Darling St Gallery, Balmain (including 6 contemporary ceramic artists) 2018 – Northbridge Art Prize – Winner of Category (3D, ceramics, textile, installation) 2017 - Frances Keevil Gallery Double Bay, group show 2017 – Eclectic – Group Show Chatswood Artspace 2017 – Royal Easter Show Art prize winner (for the piece Under the sea - glaze category) 2016 – Brookvale Ceramics group exhibition 2016 – Greenwich Village Art Trail 2015 – Frances Keevil Gallery, Double Bay, Christmas show 2015 - Graduate show UNSW Art and Design 2015 - Three Point Turn group exhibition UNSW Art and Design. 2014 – Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi. 2013 – Hunters Hill Harbour Sculpture Exhibition, Stipend winner 2013 - Greenwich Village Art Trail 2012 – Hornsby Ceramics Graduate Show 2012 - Greenwich Village Art Trail 2011 – Hornsby Ceramics Graduate Show PUBLICATIONS The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 58 No 2 July 2019 - Article: "Inspired by 2D to create in 3D" (pg 32-36) EDUCATION 2019 - Diploma of ceramics at Northern Beaches Ceramics,TAFE ( Distinction). 2016 - Master of Art, Majoring in Sculpture, at the UNSW School of Art and Design. 2010-2015 - Certificate III and IV in Ceramics, Sydney Ceramic Studios, Hornsby TAFE |