Melanie Fiedler
Melanie Fiedler/ aka melankolia_xx is a visual artist with photography as her primary medium. During her 8 years of living in Mparntwe (Alice Springs Australia), Melanie has experimented with different ways of presenting her photography including print, projection, poetry and installation. In 2023, she returned to Saxony/ Germany, her place of birth, and is currently based in Leipzig. She also creates custom work for clients.
“The recurring themes of my practice are femme bodies and the juxtaposition of our animal nature and ‘civilised’ selves. My work is an affirmation of the human being as a natural being (homo natura), a creature that is rooted in nature alongside animals and plants. I focus on the body as the starting point from which culture emerges after. My Honours thesis in philosophy was a critical analysis of the human separation from nature based on the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. I discovered that the concept of decadence is useful to understand how modern society contributes to our falling away (de- cadere) from our bodies and our animal being. This idea informs my visual practice to this day.”
Artist CV
Exhibitions & Projects
2014 Charles Darwin University, End of Year Student Exhibition, Alice Springs.
2014 Charles Darwin University, “Build Up” Visual Arts Exhibition, Darwin.
2014 Watch this Space, “Squared” Group Exhibition, Alice Springs.
2015 Araluen Arts Centre, Advocate Art Award, Alice Springs.
2015 Yubu Napa Gallery, “Homage” Group Exhibition as part of Pride Carnivale, Alice Springs.
2015 Watch this Space, “Pride Carnivale” Photographic Projection, Alice Springs.
2015 “Dying Matters group exhibition” presented by Palliative Care NT, 63 Todd Mall, Alice Springs.
2016 Watch this Space, “Metamorphoses and Melankolia”, photo exhibition with Gretel Bull, Alice Springs.
2016 Red Dirt Poetry Festival, ‘Bedroom Eyes’, group installation curated by Lia Tilson, Alice Springs.
2017 Wide Open Space Festival, “Femme Magic”, a tree art installation of textiles and photographs, Ross River Resort.
2017 Watch this Space, Strange Careers Zine Fair and Graphics Exhibition, Alice Springs.
2017 Watch this Space, “Climate Change Exhibition- Group Show”, Alice Springs.
2017 Darwin Fringe Festival, “Heavenly Creatures” photo exhibition, Happy Yess, Darwin.
2017 DVVA, “Territory Surreal”- Group Show”, Darwin.
2018 Watch this Space, “Better Together Exhibition”- Group Show, Alice Springs.
2018 Araluen Arts Centre, Unknown Territory, Advocate Art Award Group Show, Alice Springs.
2018 Red Dirt Poetry Festival, “The Magic Tree- a poetry and textile tree installation, Todd Mall, Alice Springs.
2018 Desert Festival, “Immersion” video and photography projection, Red Hot Arts, Alice Springs.
2018 “Reclaim the Night”, projection of Femme Magic photography and video series, Epilogue Lounge, Alice Springs.
2019 Open Group Show, ‘Feminine Energy’, Red Hot Arts, Alice Springs.
2019 Raggetty Fringe Group Exhibition, Photography Installation Sunday on Undoolya , Raggett Street Festival, Alice Springs.
2021 Turbulent Flow in Liminal Spaces, Multimedia Group Show, Red Hot Arts, Alice Springs.
2024 Rave against Patriarchy on IWD Group Show, fem*vak @Institut für Zukunft, Leipzig.
2024 International Summercampus, Art Residency in August @Künstlerstadt Kalbe e.V., Kalbe Germany.
Education
Honours in Philosophy 1st Class, University of Western Sydney 2014
Master of Arts International Communication, Macquarie University 2011
Bachelor of Social Science with Distinction, University of Western Sydney 2010
Other
Certificate IV in Visual Arts Sculpture, VET course CDU, 2018.
Digital Photography Workshop, Steven Pearce, 2015.
Certificate IV in Visual Arts Drawing/ Painting, VET course CDU, 2014.
Certificate IV in Visual Arts Textile Printing, VET course CDU, 2014.
Analogue Photography Project Course, VHS Friedrichshain- Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany, 2011.