Metamorphoses and Melankolia

Gretel Bull & Mela Meerkat

‘Melankolia’ and ‘Metamorphoses’ present a complimentary dichotomy; both artists use the female body to explore the theme of an intangible connectedness to something greater than the self; but the artists diverge in both theory and aesthetic. Body and movement are central motifs: hovering in blackness the body morphs and changes, defying the physical and displacing the self. The boundaries between wilderness and civilisation collapse, and woman emerges as body and flesh, animal and plant.

Following Nietzsche, ‘Melankolia’, seeks to subvert the fall from nature at the hand of decadence, stripping away the layers of civilization to uncover the sensual innocence of the body once more. Mela’s work expresses a deep melancholy, a longing to return to a natural union between woman and nature, each nurturing the other in symbiotic coitus.

‘Metamorphoses’ looks inwards, exploring the Jungian notion of the collective unconscious as an infinite web connecting us all. Taking inspiration from classical mythology, specifically Ovid’s tales of transformation, these images explore the process of metamorphosis; the perpetual transformation of the psyche as it reacts to the world around it.

OPENING

6pm, Thursday 23 June

EXHIBITION

23 June - 8 July 2016