5 - 24 May 2011
about the exhibition
“The simplicity of my work suggests stillness and silence, a meditation on the elements and concepts of light, space and time.” Mel Douglas’ glass vessels and wall panels are beautifully resolved, classically simple, yet technically innovative. Inspired by the changes that occur within a landscape at the end of a day, Mel’s recent work contemplates the quiet shadows, the changing sky and the shimmering of dappled light across a body of water as the day’s light fades. The creation of Mel’s work is integral to the reading of each piece, the slow process of construction allows Mel the time to pause and reflect. For Mel, the textured surface of her works articulate the notion of time, reinforced by her method for mark-making, a meditative and time-consuming process. “I aim to concentrate the viewer’s attention on the proportion and linear relationships of the work. Each line is a unique mark influenced by the object’s physical shape and surface; it is a contour, a stroke, an outline.”
Mel Douglas has gained a significant reputation in Australia and internationally since graduating with first class honours from the Australian National University Institute of the Arts in 2000, and receiving a Thomas Foundation Pilchuck Student Scholarship to study in the USA. In 2002, Mel won the prestigious Ranamok Glass Prize and, in 2007, the Ebeltoft Young Glass award from the Glasmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark. Mel has exhibited throughout Australia and the USA, and her work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Parliament House, National Glass Collection at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Cincinnati Art Museum (USA) and Corning Museum of Glass (USA).