Mel Dare Artist

22/03/2024

Today (Sat 23/04) is the last day to view my solo exhibition The Construction of Self 11am - 5pm KAMILĖ GALLERY, The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth (cnr St George's Tce & Barrack St)

Curator Vanessa Trento selected artworks for the exhibition which aspire to articulate my decade-long investigation into how personal narrative is created.

22/03/2024

I became intrigued by seemingly mundane decorative objects and minutia such as lace hankies and crocheted doilies. How these inanimate objects dictated certain behaviours. How these objects could evoke a rush of memories from early childhood. Sitting at my grandparents kitchen table on my family’s farm. A crochet doily placed under a procession of teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl and plate of biscuits. Nanna pours tea. I wait for biscuits to be offered. Thongs resting on big toes, trying not to swing my legs, remembering to sit up straight and speak only when spoken to. These small delicate objects - weaved with such care over extended amounts of time - so contrived in their simple, symmetrical patterning - yet dictating so much. - Mel Dare.

These artworks are part of a body of work which began in the Czech Republic while Mel Dare was revisiting her mother’s homeland. Immersed in such a long history full of beauty and dark passages she developed a further interest in the notion of self. How an individual is constructed, threaded together by divergent strands of culture as well as the moments of time and place in which we exist. The echo of events and memory that reverberate throughout our lifetimes. Gentle strands or crude stitches, the pattern of conditioning imposed by external and internal influences. By our simple yet almost all-consuming need to survive – biologically, socially and psychologically. As well as our equally strong desire for comfort.

‘Verisimilitude b’ was part of a body of work produced for the themed group exhibition “Florid“ in 2014. ‘Verisimilitude b’ was it's response.

‘Verisimilitude b’ is currently showing in “The Construction of Self” exhibition and ‘Verisimilitude a’ is available for viewing in the stockroom at Kamilė Gallery, The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth CBD (cnr St Georges Tce & Barrack St). Curated by Vanessa Trento. Open Tues - Sat 11am - 5pm until 23rd March.

Artwork details: Verisimilitude a and Verisimilitude b, Mel Dare, acrylic paint and ink on wooden board, each 70 x 65 cm, 2014. Photograph by Robert Frith.

22/03/2024

As Shirley and I shared our stories we revealed thick red threads running through our lives like veins.

Listening to Shirley talk about her problematic childhood relationship with red – denoting success in her culture - I reflected on my own: scraped knees from climbing trees; bruises from playing footy with the boys; redback spiders under the outside dunny’s lid; a ewe hanging in the shearing shed, blood pouring from its throat; watered down red engendering feelings of weakness, pain, confusion.

The more we discussed our seemingly (at first) vast differences the more the other's stories felt familiar. Echoing our own. When we share our stories with others patterns are revealed and select areas are embellished. Some threads are unpicked or unravelled; whole sections are sewn over or need to start again. When we share our stories with others we are weaving - adding to one another - becoming part of each other's larger tapestry.

When our weaving first begins we stitch loose threads borrowed from family and culture. Sewn crudely with coarse threads. As we grow they become finer and more delicate, or entangled. These are the maps by which we navigate our lives. The filters we look through. The blankets we wrap around ourselves for comfort and warmth. The nets which stop us from falling; some becoming traps.

‘'Elaborate’ is part of a series of paintings responding to a group project “Antipodean Encounters: West Australian Artists and Taiwanese Culture” where members of the Perth Taiwanese community and Perth artists collaborated in 2018. This artwork was specifically produced from a personal and cultural exchange with Shirley Tsao.

‘Elaborate’ is currently showing in “The Construction of Self” exhibition at Kamilė Gallery, The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth CBD (cnr St Georges Tce & Barrack St). Curated by Vanessa Trento. Open Tues - Sat 11am - 5pm until 23rd March.

Artwork details: Elaborate, Mel Dare, acrylic paint and ink on Belgium linen, 30.5 x 30.5cm, 2018. Photograph by Robert Frith.

21/03/2024

Old paint flakes with the touch of the needle as I sew into gauze covering the deteriorated, broken boundary of a stranger’s home. Held firmly but gently in my hand. Driven by the desire to cover, to protect, I embellish the damaged border of another. While part of me mends. - Mel Dare

For 24 years Mel Dare has explored identity. The last decade how personal narrative is constructed. More recently she has begun unravelling some of the threads which form the fabric of her own story. When starting this series of artworks:“Mending Broken Boundaries“ she had a major operation, then later two more. Each time the wound was packed with gauze. During this period she mentored artist Madeleine Beech in the project "Continuity and Change; Future". Beech collected and shared with Dare the remnants of her neighbour’s vandalised fence. These fragments of another’s demarcation of ownership and gauze became the mediums of this body of work.

‘Mending Broken Boundaries No. 1, 2, 4 ,6, 8 & 10’ is currently exhibiting in “The Construction of Self” exhibition at Kamilė Gallery, The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth CBD (cnr St Georges Tce & Barrack St). Curated by Vanessa Trento. Open Tues - Sat 11am - 5pm until 23rd March.

Artwork details: Mending Broken Boundaries series No. 1 to 27, Mel Dare, broken concrete fence pillars and gauze, various sizes, 2019 to 2021. Photograph by Robert Frith.

21/03/2024

Exploring how the threads of our experience form the fabric of our personal narratives. Informing us of who we are, how we relate to the world and in turn how the world relates to us.” (Mel Dare)

Final week to preview exhibition ‘Construction of Self’ by Mel Dare at KAMILĖ GALLERY State Buildings. Curated by Vanessa Trento. Exhibition closing Saturday March 23rd.

19/03/2024

Thank you Laetitia Wilson for the wonderful review of my solo exhibition "The Construction of Self" in the March/April 2024 edition of Artist's Chronicle.

Curated by Vanessa Trento. Exhibiting at KAMILĖ GALLERY in The State Buildings, Perth CBD. Open Tues-Sat 11am -5pm until Saturday 23rd March.

17/03/2024

01/03/2024

Kamile Gallery is open by appointment only: Sat 02/03, Sat 09/03, & Thurs 14/03. Arranging private viewing contact: [email protected]

Otherwise, the gallery is open Tues - Sat 11am - 5pm until Sat 23rd March.

Location: Kamile Gallery is in The State Buildings, 1 Cathedral Ave, Perth CBD (corner of St George's Terrace and Barrack Street). If you enter through the St George's Terrace entrance - turn right & walk a handful of steps.

More info: www.kamilegallery.com, www.meldare.com

22/02/2024

THE CONSTRUCTION OF SELF
Mel Dare

Opening Friday February 23 | 5 - 7 PM
KAMILĖ GALLERY STATE BUILDINGS

THE CONSTRUCTION OF SELF portrays the relationship between the inner self and the outside world, tracing a human landscape where personal narratives, search of identity and passage of time intertwine. Throughout this body of work threads are a constant pattern and a signature of Mel Dare. Threads which bind and separate. Threads which are torn and restitched.

14/02/2024

Invitation: THE CONSTRUCTION OF SELF by Mel Dare opening Friday 23 February 5 - 7pm @ Kamile Gallery.

07/02/2024

"Don't Be Such a Girl 1" is showing in the exhibition The Language of Colour at Mundaring Art Centre until 3pm this Sunday.

The Language of Colour showcases works inspired by the power of colour to communicate emotions, ideas, and narratives through art. Seventy-eight artists celebrate the richness and diversity of their arts practice, and the cultural expression colours incite.

Artwork details: Mel Dare, Don't Be Such a Girl 1, ink and acrylic paint on cotton duck, 41 x 41cm, 2021

Mundaring Art Centre is open Tuesday - Friday 10am - 5pm, Saturday & Sunday 11am - 3pm

11/09/2023