Melanie Smith

Statement

Throughout my work I have had an interest in juxtaposing two elements – whether for their difference or similarity. In previous works I have dealt with counterpoints such as compact and empty, exposure and inhibition, the accumulative and the limited. Most of these referred to the female body, and in some cases were autobiographical.

Since then the work has diversified to talk more about a social body or condition, and expanding on earlier themes but applying that to contemporary living, and its associative sicknesses such as consumerism, materialism and artificiality, all of which obviously have an effect on our collective conduct. These works raise several issues; firstly, they search for a crosspoint between two states of being, objectivity and subjectivity, and how reality overlaps with fiction and vice versa. The objects and installations are virtual constructions emanating from a morphological proliferation of our daily world. Secondly, in their very density they become an anthropological guide into a synthetic culture of a world where all the real is just hard-core raw material. (In that sense I become more local in my interpretation of 'culture' and environment – Mexico City, where I live, being a great example of a kind of second rate Hong Kong). Thirdly, I wish to refer to the colour orange and why that became of interest to me. It seems to be a colour of authority, used in public for road signs, advertising and grabbing the attention of the consumer. That authority attracts and repels. Exclusively using orange creates a homogeny, by neutralizing the individuality of each object or image, this in turn reflects our collective desire to stand out or be noticed.

I attempt to somehow filter the emptiness of daily life to make forms that undermine the real world. Most of my work is a kind of festive rebellion of form – which bounces back and forth from the 'all too familiar' to the unknown. Sometimes I am painting with objects – other times, making objects from paintings. I use mediums such as painting, photography, photocopies, projections, objects and things that don't add up to any of the above, because I feel that none of them are sufficient in their own right and because the subject takes on many forms. In this sense the interpretation of the work becomes plural, although I have tried to underline the basic points.

back to Melanie Smith