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Melissa Young
Melissa Young works in bronze and produces small delicate figurative works. She completed the Industrial Design course at Wellington Polytechnic in 1989 and then started sculpting in 1993
Artist's Statement:
I like experimenting when sculpting, new ideas and themes often evolve from conversations that I've had. My recent body of work has been described as a social commentary on life; it celebrates the lives of women past & present.
The naming of the works is also important to me. I think it gives an insight into my ideas behind the work and hopefully expresses some of my personality and humour.
I currently sell my work through galleries throughout New Zealand and now in Singapore. My work is in private collections in New Zealand, Australia, USA, England and France.
Exhibitions
1994 Heavy Metal (Group) at the New Moon Gallery Wellington
1998 Fresh (Group) at Inch Gallery Wellington
1998 Experimental (Group) at Queens Wharf Apartments Wellington
2000 52 Naked Women & A Camel (Solo) at Sphere Gallery Wellington
2000 Marine (Group) at Sphere Gallery Wellington
2001 98% Fat Free (Solo) at Woodhouse Hill Gallery Wellington
2003 28 Pairs of Feet - Going Solo at the Academy of Fine Arts Wellington
2004 Domestic Goddesses (Solo) Emerge Gallery Wellington
2004 Painting the Domestic Goddess (2 person exhibition) Parnell Gallery Auckland
Awards
Wellington artist Melissa Young won first-equal place for her sculpture Experience is the Mother of Knowledge in the 2002 Pacific Art Awards.
The entrants were asked to respond to the theme of 'Old Narratives, New Histories-Past, Present and Future'. As a third generation Chinese born in New Zealand, Melissa chose to centre her work around the family's migration and the growth of the two cultures.
Judges acclaimed her work as "exquisite and truly embracing of the theme".
