CONTEMPORARY ART STOCKROOM Melinda Schawel

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**News Update**

Melinda Schawel announced as finalist in WAMA Art Prize for works on paper 2023.

Melinda Schawel's abstracted compositions conjure a kind of visual ecology; a symbolic world where concept and construct interact in quiet symbiosis. Immersing herself in the often-overlooked alchemy of paper the Melbourne-based artist summons formal dialogues between texture and mark to present her experiential vision of the natural world.

Using traditional media in unconventional ways - papers collaged, woods sanded, ripped away, covered in ink washes, written on, and waxed - Melinda Schawel’s mixed media works are experimental iterations driven by a love of materials and surfaces, and the search to find the optimum point where ideas, technique and media come together. Working with a pared back palette of neutral tones and bold accents, Schawel’s works appear both primordial and feather-light, striking a balance between control and chaos as she manipulates her medium and the ever-present element of surprise to create shapes and forms of a largely organic nature.

Never directly observational in their depiction, but rather emblematic of an imagined representation, Melinda Schawel’s richly textured works on paper and metal serve to suggest the organic. Forms akin to lichen, coral spores, spider eggs, macrophages and pollen coalesce in a visual distillation of ecological proclivity. Deeply affected by the environmental catastrophes currently impacting the Australian landscape, Schawel has recently found herself oscillating between a deeply negative and conversely hopeful outlook for the future. Channelling ideas of reciprocity between all life forms, her art practice articulates both an intense appreciation of those forms manifest within nature, and a sense of anticipation for the emergence of a new political and ecological ‘whole world’ view.
Excerpt from exhibition essay by Phe Luxford 2020

My art practice is a personal and emotional response to phenomena occurring in nature, as well as meditations on the nature of paper itself. Working with a thick 640gsm paper, I drill and tear into the medium with a scalpel and peel it back to create shapes and textures revealing different aspects of the paper’s persona. Drawing ink and fluid acrylics are painted and poured on sections of the torn and perforated paper, creating interplays between colour and form. A knowledge and love of materials and process, for me, is the key to achieving a sense of visual equilibrium. Human beings are inherently flawed and we seem to require multiple opportunities to prove ourselves. This is particularly relevant with regards to our catastrophic impact on the climate, which leaves us all to ponder how many chances we actually have left.
Melinda Schawel Artist Statement

Schawel creates works of considerable lyricism, where despite the brutality of her making process, there prevails a mood of tranquillity tinged with mystery and wonderment. It is possible to see a metaphor in paper as a skin of life or the canary in the coalmine and on it we may notice a reflection on the challenges to the natural environment. Drawings such as ‘Bommie I’ may be interpreted as a meditation on the marine environment and on the process of its regeneration during difficult times.
Dr. Sasha Grishin 2017

Creative Road: Public Artists in Conversation // Melinda Schawel from Creative Road on Vimeo.

Melinda Schawel has been featured in The Artist Story. The article details Melinda's background in the arts, and how she has had to adapt her practice because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. For the full story, please click the link here.

Born in Illinois, USA, Schawel received a BA in Fine Art from the University of California in 1993 and a Postgraduate Degree in Printmaking from RMIT in 1996. Schawel has been a finalist in the WAMA Art Prize for Works on Paper (2023), Omnia Art Prize (2022) and the Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize (2020) after winning the People’s Choice Award for the Adelaide Perry in 2018. She has also been a finalist in the Whyalla Art Prize (2017), the Nillumbik Prize (2021, 2016, 2015, 2013) and the Fisher’s Ghost Art Award (2015, 2012). She has undertaken residency at the Art Vault in Mildura (2016), Chiang Mai Art on Paper Workshop, Thailand (2015) and at Frans Masereel Centre, Kasterlee, Belgium (2004). She held a successful solo exhibition at Art Central Hong Kong in 2018. Her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Artbank, Crown Casino, Geelong Regional Gallery, the Royal Museum of Fine Art in Antwerp, Belgium and the Whitehorse Art Collection. She has exhibited regularly since 1995 and has been selected for a number of prestigious commissions such as the Westin Hotel, the Park Hyatt in Melbourne and the City of Casey.

FLG is delighted to announce the release of Melinda Schawel’s monograph. (Update: SOLD OUT) This comprehensive publication highlights key events from FLG artist Melinda Schawel’s continuing art career. Focusing in on the last 10 years of Schawel’s 20 plus years of practice, the book explores the nuanced and evolving experimentation of her printmaking processes, her love of materials and surfaces, and her creative drive to find the optimum point where ideas, technique and media come together. Including select essays, reviews and artist’s statements, along-side beautifully detailed images of her work and inspiration, this monograph offers a clear insight into this artist’s intuitive and tactile practice.

SCHAWEL'S PUBLIC ART PROJECTS

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Wings 2023
ink on torn and perforated paper
106cm x 152cm (framed size 124 x 170cm)
$11,000 AUD

Low Tide 2021
mixed media on torn perforated paper
105cm x 150cm diptych In Artist's Studio (framed size 124 x 170cm)
$11,000 AUD

In Too Deep 2021
mixed media on torn and perforated paper
154cm x 106cm (framed size 170 x 124cm)
$11,000 AUD

Traces IV 2023
perforated paper
76cm x 57cm (framed size 95 x 74cm)
$3,800 AUD

Traces V 2023
perforated paper
76cm x 57cm (framed size 95 x 74cm)
$3,800 AUD

Pulsating 2022
ink & graphite on torn, perforated paper
106cm x 75cm (framed size 123 x 93cm) On exhibition at WAMA ART PRIZE
$6,500 AUD

Drifting II 2022
ink on torn & perforated paper
105cm x 75cm (framed size 123 x 93cm)
$6,600 AUD

Crown III 2020
perforated aluminium, edition of 3, in artist's studio
54cm x 55cm 2 Editions remaining
$1,200 AUD