Index - Melanie E Khava

Melanie, has given me a wonderful opportunity to really really look long and hard at this work and say what I really want to say, no holds bar, I love what she does, her interpretation, the feeling behind each piece and my interpretation of what I am looking at.

I’m not going to pin point a specific work and say what it is and how its made, I’m just going to say what I feel about it or as a group.. or how each work fits into the group, worse case scenario I could get this all wrong.

“unti­tled: 16/49. process of selec­tion”, is a large collection of work made over a 9 year period, Melanie and the Directors of Index have laid out the work throughout the gallery’s vastness. The interpretation is a little more intense then just hanging a show, it’s almost as if the public is welcome to watch the process of actually hanging a show, like it’s a performance but at the same time it’s not.

But Melanie is open to suggestion, unlike a lot of Artist’s, this whole show is all about allowing suggestion, inviting constructive criticism, and engaging in conversation. It’s refreshing to talk to artists who don’t get all antsy and over protective with their work. As an Artist you really don’t have the right to get all defensive if you don’t like what somebody has said about your work. You make work and you put it out there and of course people are going to say stuff. Learn to accept it or don’t do the work.

Back to the work in question...

In the front room there is a large floor work of coloured squares of board. If you stand in a way as to not being able to see the supports, these squares and the low hanging light which is offering up a larger shadow suggest that this is a floating work, simple in it’s application but very affective. I pass a main wall with a spattering of cut and stitched paper, now I see these pieces are of manipulation and of slight perspective, using more than 1 colour and laying the work, stitching them together and letting the stitches stand out in there neat order. They are a delight to look at, I really just wanted to look over them with a magnified glass as there is an enormous amount of attention to detail in these works.

I was not able to pass the 9 green panels mounted on nails, I stood and stared at it and discussed it at length with myself the different hues of green or was there just 1. Was the light playing tricks with my eyes. The work next to it offered up slits of background colour like cuts to the skin. The soft yellow and blue work is the oldest piece in the entire show and Melanie’s favourite, could be mine too, it’s wistful and hangs quietly and it’s very contemplative. I like how it’s hiding it’s hanging threads.

On the opposite wall there is 5 floor works leaning up against the wall, they have little sections cut out and filled with woven thread, these are my second favourite as they jog my memory of learning how to weave and remembering the fine work of string art.

And the stand out yellow work, was it deliberately placed over the hidden door, was it reflecting the hidden door or was it just pretending to be the door.

It’s not just paper Melanie uses, there is wood, mud, vinyl, thread, paint, nails and the list goes on and on. This show is more of an symposium of colour, colour to entice, seduce, reflect upon and to remember...

written by fleur

9th July - 23rd July 2011
www.indexspace.com.au