Pixel Ink

Dark Belles

25 March – 11 April (Extended)

Opening preview: Wednesday 25 March 5.30 – 7.30pm

Artist Statement:

“Dark Belles is a body of work concerned with the idea of a heroine who inhabits a dark city scape. The women who characterise this idea appear alone, waif-like, raven haired and almost abandoned to the sweeping skies of the city. This heroine is the manifestation of many ideas from 
the 1940′s femme fatale to Emily Bronte’s Catherine. The works are inspired by my love of Japanese prints, Film Noir and Gothic writing.

My interest in the colour blue began when I first read Tennessee Williams The Glass Menagerie at age 16. In the play a young man, Jim sees a girl, Laura wearing a leg brace and asks what is wrong with her. She 
replies that she has the medical condition “Plerosis” but he hears “Blue Roses” and it becomes her nickname. I have since associated blue with a mournful beauty, something which reoccurs in these works in the form of butterflies and flowers. Love and nature are expressed as 
transient and ephemeral things which are tainted with loss.

My work has always dealt with the relationship between characters and their urban environment. The city is a creative, seductive and disruptive reflection of the human condition. In Dark Belles I have moved toward a more contemplative and distant urban skyline, infused 
with dark childhood memories, surrealist poetry and German fairytales. Each painting presents itself as a resonant film still which attempts to capture the dislocated beauty inherent in modernity.”

- Melissa 09

Biography:

Melissa McDougall is a Wellington based artist born in Dunedin and raised in Australia. Her work has been exhibited in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and the United States. Her first solo show entitled Fail-Safe at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (1994) featured large graffiti inspired works on paper which were a critical success. McDougall graduated from the University of WA in 1998 with a BA in Architecture and Fine Arts. In 2000 she travelled to Europe which led to a third solo show in Perth titled Love and Shadows. Then in 2001 she travelled to the U.S. living in small towns but visiting large cities such as Chicago and New York which provided inspiration for the ironically titled show American Beauty (2003). McDougall’s work has always dealt with the multi-faceted beauty of the eternal city and is often inspired by Japanese prints, surrealist poetry and film, particularly Film Noir.