STUDIES
MELISAH MAY

My practice is currently focused on the ocean and it’s relics, primarily working in oils on canvas to represent vast, rich seascapes and the complex shapes and colours of rocks, sea life and various other objects derived from the coastal landscape. 

I am interested in both familiar and not so familiar scenes, investigations of detailed bodies of water that could be here, there, or anywhere. This exhibition gives an insight into the process of developing a body of work, the initial sketches and interpretations to more formed ideas.

Onwards Gallery
Friday 06 May. 6-9pm.
Saturday–Thursday 11am-4pm.

ARTIST BIO

Artist Melisah May was born in the NSW country town of Wagga Wagga in 1983, before moving around with family and settling in Newcastle, NSW in 1994. She studied a BA Illustration and BA of Fine Arts Education at the University of Newcastle before heading to the UK to travel and expand her practice. On her return to Australia in 2012, May has maintained her practice in her Newcastle based studio.

A semi-finalist in the Doug Moran prize in 2019, she has moved across genres from portraiture, to still life, to a more solitary focus on the ocean and its relics. May’s style is representational, and her focuses on colour, depth and light play on the surface of water.