Melinda Schawel

Melinda Schawel’s 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, she drills and tears into the medium with a scalpel and peels it back to create abstract shapes and textures revealing different aspects of the paper’s persona. Drawing ink and fluid acrylics are poured and painted on sections of the torn and perforated paper, creating dynamic interplays between colour and form.

Her practice explores the resilience of fragile ecosystems, which are under threat by both natural and human made events but still able to flourish despite the harshest of conditions. 

Education
1996     
Postgraduate Degree, Fine Arts (Honours) in Printmaking, RMIT, Melbourne

1993     
BA, Fine Arts and Communication Studies (Honours),University of California Santa Barbara, USA.

Solo Exhibitions

2019
Summertime in the Mountains, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide, SA

2018     
Boundless, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair with Wagner Contemporary, NSW
Second Chances, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne, VIC

2017    
Silver Lining, Beaver Galleries, Canberra, ACT
Higher Ground II, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide
Higher Ground, Wagner Contemporary, Sydney

2016
Protected, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2015    
Out from Under Me, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide

2014    
Traverse, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
Traverse, Artspace Foyer Gallery, Mackay

2012    
Torn, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2009    
Full Circle, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2006    
Out of Touch, Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne

2003    
Lingua Franca, Global Art Source, Zürich, Switzerland

2000   
Recent Works, Flinders Lane Gallery

1999   
Etched, Helengory Galerie, Prahran.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2018    
Art Central Hong Kong, Hill Smith Gallery, Hong Kong

2017   
Whyalla Art Prize, finalist, Country Arts SA, Port Adelaide & Adelaide Airport, SA
Denfair, with Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne Convention Centre
Finalist, Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, Sydney, NSW

2016   
Works on Paper, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide, SA
Of Colour & Light, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Abbotsford, Vic
The Nillumbik Prize, finalist, Montsalvat, Melbourne

2015    
Small Works, Beaver Galleries, ACT
Magical, Neospace, Collingwood, VIC
Fisher's Ghost Art Award, Finalist, Campbelltown, Arts Centre, NSW
Drawing: A Fundamental Liberation V, Wagner Gallery, Sydney, NSW
The Nillumbik Prize, finalist, Montsalvat, Melbourne
Roots & Wings, with Belinda Fox, Beaver Galleries, ACT
Direction Now, Wagner Gallery, Sydney, NSW

2014    
The Portrait Show, Flinders Lane Gallery

2013    
The Nillumbik Prize, finalist, Montsalvat, Melbourne
Grounded, Australian High Commission, Singapore

2012    
Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, Campbelltown Arts Centre, NSW, Australia

2010    
Four Squared, Gallery S.P.A.C.E., Savannah, Georgia, USA

2009    
Obra Grafica Murtra Edicions, Collegi d’Aparelladors, Barcelona (Mataró), Spain.
Four Squared, University Gallery, Uni of Northern Florida, USA
20Plus, Flinders Lane Gallery
Paper Works, Gallery RFD, Swainsboro, Georgia, USA

2008    
Surface Tension, Flinders Lane Gallery
The Perfumed Garden, Flinders Lane Gallery

2007    
Christmas Collection, Beaver Galleries, Canberra
Pure, Flinders Lane Gallery

2006    
Treasures, Flinders Lane Gallery
Melbourne Art Fair, Flinders Lane Gallery
Meeting Place, Keeping Place, George Adams Gallery, Arts Centre, Melbourne
Slowly, Slowly, Kudos Gallery, Sydney

2005     
Art Sydney 05, Sydney
Up to Speed (2 person show with Belinda Fox), Beaver Galleries

2004     
Ausstellung in der Kupferdruckwerkstatt, Zürich, Switzerland

2003     
Del Mar, Kulturbüro Schaufensterprogramm, Bern, Switzerland
Grafik und mehr, Galerie Vostry, Erfurt, Germany

2002     
Works on paper, Global Art Source, Zurich
Land-line, Port Jackson Press Australia, Fitzroy
Crossroads, Broken Hill Regional Gallery, VIC
Confluence, Warrnambool Regional Gallery, VIC
Sojourn with Belinda Fox, Beaver Galleries ACT

Awards and Residencies

2016     
Residency, The Art Vault, Mildura, Victoria

2015     
Residency, Chiang Mai Art on Paper Workshop, Chiang Mai Thailand

2012     
Residency, Whitsunday Anglican School, MacKay, Australia

2004     
Residency, Frans Masereel Centre, Kasterlee, Belgium

2002     
Colour Intaglio workshop at La Fundacio Pilar i Joan Miro, Mallorca, Spain
Recipient of Pat Corrigan Artist’s Grant (NAVA)

Fine Art Publishers

2006-7  
Port Jackson Press Australia, Melbourne

2003-4  
Murtra Edicions, Arenys de Munt, Spain

Collections

Astral (NSW) Jupiters Casino (QLD) Sheraton (VIC), Fraser Suites Perth (WA), Hyatt (Phillipines), Hilton (VIC), Four Seasons (NSW), Stockland Development (NSW), Geelong Regional Gallery (VIC), Royal Museum of Fine Art Antwerp (Belgium), Frans Masereel Centre of Graphic Arts (Belgium), National Gallery of Australia (ACT), Artbank (NSW), Charles Sturt University (NSW), Phillips Fox Lawyers (ACT), Hilton (SA), Sebel Hotel (VIC), Hotel Causeway (VIC), Westin (NSW), Park Hyatt (VIC), Crown Casino (VIC), private collections in Europe, USA, Australia, Asia.