Light is central to Heidi Melamed's work practice. Melamed's studio practice employs a variety of materials; laser-cut plywood, Perspex, glitter and LED neon, alongside acrylic paint of varying degrees of translucency and viscosity. Melamed's works incorporate light into and onto the surface of the work and disperses it back into its surrounding environment. Colour masquerades as both opaque and translucent, shining and matte, glittering and smooth. This allows for the creation of compositions that can be read in a multitude of ways spatially. Regardless of media, these works can be thought of as expanded paintings, in which colour and light play the role of brushstroke. Light and colour belonging to a universal vocabulary of visual, physical and psychological understanding. The parabola is at the core of all this. This shape has been explored by Melamed throughout her recent practice, appearing in geometric form as well as in organic form through dripped and poured paint. Exploring the use of commercially available materials like Perspex, neon and glitter, Melamed takes these 'low art' materials and repurposes them into polished high art structures. Colour and light are permitted to interplay via these expanded paintings, and ultimately a unique viewing experience is the result.

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Heidi Melamed is a South African-born, Sydney- based artist with a studio practice focused on forms of expanded painting using colour and light. Melamed's work has been curated into numerous group exhibitions including EMANATE at the New England Regional Art Museum, 1919 Salon at Galerie pompom Sydney (both 2019), Pen / Line+ Paint at 220 Creative Space, Sydney (2017), and Made/Arranged at Saint Cloche, Sydney (2016). Melamed participated in The Other Art Fair, Sydney in 2016 and was Artist in Residence at Moriah College, Queens Park the same year. She has been a finalist in the Waverley Art Prize (2018, 2016, 2015), Mosman Art Prize

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(2015) and Blacktown City Art Prize (2012) and in 2020 held her first solo exhibition at Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert, Sydney. Melamed holds a Masters in Fine Art from the National Art School, Sydney (2018) a Masters of Art (majoring in Painting) from the University of New South Wales (2013), Sydney. Melamed is represented by Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert, Sydney.

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