About Mel Anderson
A little bit about me ... I am a cross-disciplinary visual artist working across ceramics, photography, cyanotypes, printmaking and digital mediums. Using process as my foundation, I follow my heart and hands to create confessional artworks heavily imbued with metaphor and symbolism. Stories flow from these visual artworks and allow me to find the words to untangle the parts of myself needing attention.
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My arts practice is deeply personal and introspective, rooted in place and community. Art making is my way to explore and discover myself, the environment and my place in the world. I work with local materials to weave form, give voice to unconscious narratives and balance out the challenges of life. Creativity is a valuable tool for self-reflection, introspection and (self-) discovery - an adventure of imagination, discovery and open-hearted curiosity.
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My current body of work is a fragmentation of my photography into smaller, denser, confessional artworks, reflective of the fragmentation of my life in my current stage of transition. My cyanotype works are heavily reliant on me stepping back and allowing the language of my unconscious to flow.
EXHBITIONS and AWARDS
• 2023 Head On Landscape Photograpy Prize, Shortlisted
• 2021 Unframed, Online Auction, Solo Show.
Cyanotypes of the Lower Hawkesbury River, 2 - 5 April 2021.
• 2021 Songs of the River, Solo Show, The Cottage at Brooklyn, NSW. Cyanotypes of the Lower Hawkesbury River, 20 March - 18 April 2021.
• 2020 Tiny Folk Sculpture Hunt, Solo Show, Dangar Island Depot, NSW.
Wild Clay Ceramics, Installation and storytelling. 10 October-21 November, 2020.
• 2020 Tributaries, Solo Show, Dangar Island Depot, NSW.
Cyanotypes of the Lower Hawkesbury River, 10 October - 21 November, 2020.
• 2020 Conversations with the River, Solo Show, The Cottage at Brooklyn,NSW. Cyanotypes of the Lower Hawkesbury River, March 2020.
• 2019 Mel Anderson Photography, Solo Show, Dangar Island Depot, NSW.
Photography of Dangar Island and the Lower Hawkesbury River. March 2019.
• 2018 Water Play, Solo Show, Dangar Island Depot, NSW.
Abstract Photography.
• 2017 River Dreaming, Solo Show. The Gallery, TAFE NSW. Ceramics, Painting and Photography. 14-15 June, 2017.
• 2013 Ordinary/Extraordinary, Group Show. Mona Vale Music, Northern Beaches, NSW. Experimental Photography. 21 June - 14 July 2013.
• 2013 The Peat Island Project, Group Show. Hang Gallery Brooklyn, NSW. Photography and Digital Media. June 2013.
• 2012 The Peat Island Project, Group Show. Gosford Regional Art Gallery, NSW. Photography and Digital Media.
• 2012 The Road to Dangar book collaboration with Judith Doyle.
Photography, Graphic Design.
• 2012 Moran Photographic Portrait Prize, Semi-Finalist, "David and Rowena".
• 2012 Hornsby Shire Photographic Competition, People’s Choice Award "Mud Boy" and Prize Winner "The Bridge".
• 2011 Mel Anderson Photography, Solo Show, Dangar Island Depot, NSW. Photography of Dangar Island and the Lower Hawkesbury River.
• 2011 Head-On Photographic Portrait Prize, Shortlisted.
• 2010 A Year of Living Dangar-ously, Solo Show. Dangar Island Depot, NSW. Photography, Painting, Drawing, Digital Media, Ceramics, Installation, Sculpture. 2 July - 4 August 2010
• 2009 Pathways, Group Exhibition, GIG Gallery, Glebe, NSW.
Ceramics. June 2009.
• 2008 Christmas Show, Group Exhibition, Innercity Clayworkers Gallery, Ceramics. 27 November - 24 December.
• 2006 Hornsby Art Society Sculpture Show, Group Exhibition, Hornsby Art Gallery, NSW. Sculpture.
• 1995 - 1997, 2001, 2005, 2008 Ceramics Group Exhibitions, The Gallery, TAFE NSW. Ceramics.
