For this group of artists that form this edition of the Associate Studio Programme this was our first in-studio Artist visit. Melanie King, an artist based in Ramsgate, came to visit us in our studio in Stockwell on the morning of Friday 10th September.
It maybe took me and the fellow ASP artist a little while to get going, probably due to it having been the best part of two years since we had an in-person discussion like this. This was definitely made easier by Melanie, she began the day with an introduction to her practice and what she had been working on recently.
Melanie is currently working on a PHD at the Royal College of Art. Within this she is exploring the fascinating ideas around ‘Ancient Light’. Using analogue photography Melanie investigates the intimate material relationship between humans, our environments and the environments outside of our atmosphere. Melanie has an in depth and vast understanding of the materials she is using and the conversation they can be used to create. This could be emphasised in Melanie’s other projects ‘Precious Metals’ and ‘Sea Cyanotype’. Two of Melanie’s projects which excite me the most as they use new process and look to use materials in new ways that generate a strong conversation about the material and what it is actually formed of, as well as creating connection between humans, the material and the landscape.
It is this attention to materials and their relationship to the world around us that I wanted Melanie to come to the studio for the visit, as well as her desire to collaborate with people wherever possible. Especially to collaborate with people maybe thought to be out of touch from the world of art. After Melanie has warmed us up with her introduction we went on to discuss our own work with Melanie. A week or so before the visit we had our first Open Studio, we decided to leave a lot of the show up so we could should the work in a desired way. This definitely helped when moving around the room as we could be more casual with the talk and just followed the conversation as things excited us around the room. Melanie was incredible exciting, encouraging and inspiring with the way in which she discussed our work with us. As the meeting came to a close we all were left feeling ready to go again and wanted to get back to making immediately, which was needed after a small post open-studio lull. This is a testament to Melanie’s inspiring nature and energy. Ferghus Doyle
