When I was 8, my parents divorced, and my life was turned upside down. My Dad moved to California with my older sister, my Mom shacked up with a cowboy, and I went to church. I was convinced that although my Mother was now beyond redemption, my younger brother and I would not follow suit. This continued for quite a few years but by the ripe old age of 12, the delicate seams of the evangelical movement that consumed every small, southern town that we lived in began to unravel. You could say that I saw the light.

So when I landed back in Georgia in May of 2008 after spending much of my adult life overseas, I was quickly confronted by the reality that organized religion still played a significant role in the lives of many here. On the romantic, tree-lined streets of Savannah, there is literally a church on every corner, with signs outside beaming divine messages, beckoning the parishioners and the believers and the rest of us to put our faith in God and He will take care of the rest.

Driving up and down the streets, I often get an eerie feeling of having come full circle, only this time I am an outsider observing a place both familiar and foreign, with children of my own. Not long after we arrived, my four year old was reciting the pledge of allegiance, initiating conversations about Jesus and begging me to let her watch Cinderella for the 100th time, all in the same breath. That’s when it struck me that only America’s obsession with Disney and celebrity could possibly compete with its patriotism and devotion to God, and my child was indeed transforming into a southern American girl.
The surreal experience of returning home and my daughter’s transformation inspired my next body of work - to create simple slogans, tips for the day, or life lessons for both my daughter and son, stripped of morality and fear and any mention of salvation, deliverance or redemption. They are messages set on a backdrop of old collaged postcards and tinged with references to my past, American popular/consumer culture and the not so serious side of life.
Melinda Schawel

Born in Illinois, USA, Melinda Schawel received a BA in Fine Art and Communication from the University of California Santa Barbara in 1993 and a Postgraduate Degree in Printmaking from RMIT in 1996. She has exhibited regularly since 1995 and has been selected for a number of prestigious commissions including the Westin Hotel and the Park Hyatt. Her work has been published by Murtra Edicions in Spain and is represented in numerous collections including the National Gallery of Australia and the Royal Museum of Fine Art, Antwerp, Belgium.