Workshop
Mel Ogden, Australia
A Sculptural Practice with Landscape
Tuesday 11.00am – 12.30pm ⇨ $95
Bio
Mel Ogden was born in Tokyo, Japan, and lived in Singapore, the United States and Taiwan, returning to live in Australia to attend University in Canberra. She currently lives in South Bullarto, Victoria.
Her practice with landscape started some 20 years ago and her reputation as a landscape artist has been a gradual evolution. Her sculptural vocabulary and methodology combines to make simple, meaningful spaces that offer a unique landscape experience to those who enter. Mel takes cues from the site, introduced materials and the feel of her surroundings to bring the space to fruition. She considers working with talented tradespeople and owners of the land she interprets as a privilege, a learning curve, a responsibility and a great deal of fun.
Qualifications: M.A. by research, RMIT, Sculpture, Melbourne (based upon the ‘reverie’ project seen here, in Lyonville, VIC) 2004
B.A. (Visual) CITA, ANU, ACT 1991
Synopsis
Contemporary sculpture now includes many multi-disciplinary expressions with landscape having been variously engaged through land art, planted works, site specific sculpture and installation art practices.
This workshop will guide participants through the personal sculptural vocabulary and methodology Mel uses to make spaces that achieve a simple, distilled experience. It will explain the process of creating a dialogue with the site, materials and opportunities that typically involve many others to bring a landscape to fruition. The importance of engaging those that commission and take on the stewardship of the landscape will be highlighted. Mel will share some examples of her working processes with successes and pitfalls encountered along the way.