B I O G R A P H Y

Born in South Africa, Heidi Melamed currently lives and works in Sydney. Encompassing painting and sculpture, her practice constitutes an investigation and elaboration of form, especially colour, as well as the optical properties of light. Making use of innovative materials and methods, Melamed’s approach sees her enact a dialogue between geometric and organic forms, surface and luminous colour, and artificial and natural light. Melamed holds Master’s degrees in visual art from UNSW Art & Design and the National Art School.

Melamed has been represented by Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert since 2019. Her inaugural solo exhibition, Light Interplay, took place in 2020, and her second solo show, Remnants, was held in 2022.

She has also exhibited in four group shows at Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert: Opening Exhibition (2019), Sydney Contemporary (2019), Conversations and Collaborations (2020) and Sydney Contemporary (2022).

Other group shows include (re)arrangements at Grace Cossington Smith Gallery (2019), EMANATE at New England Regional Art Museum (2019), 1919 Salon at Galerie Pompom (2019), and the Postgraduate Exhibition at the National Art School (2018).

Selected for an artist residency at Bundanon, Illaroo in 2022, Melamed was also artist in residence at Moriah College, Queens Park in 2016.

Melamed has been a finalist in the Waverley Art Prize (2018, 2016, 2015), Mosman Art Prize (2022, 2020, 2015), Blacktown City Art Prize (2020, 2012) and Fisher Ghost Art Award (2023, 2022).

Melamed has a Master of Fine Art from the National Art School (2018), a Master of Art (Painting) from UNSW Art & Design (2013), and a degree in Graphic Design from Technical College Witwatersrand in South Africa (1985).

“My work is an investigation into how we see and respond to colour in a world where meaning has shifted from object to experience,” says Melamed.

“I encourage the viewer to contemplate the agency of colour in the world, and in so doing, to think about how we perceive, interpret and experience it,” she says.