Melanie de Ruyter

Melanie de Ruyter

Series 1 - Memory State

I am intrigued by the unspoken relationship that I have with certain locations, and the influence these places have on my memories. I have focused on the subjective experiences of my immediate surroundings, and the memories that these experiences create, which ultimately inform my sense of place. To express this visually, my images allude to something beyond the physical, suggesting to the essence of a memory and the way that I remember the past. Through my work I actively seek to negotiate the value that I ascribe to place through memories.

Mel de Ruyter is a local artist based in Riverside. She completed her Bachelor of Contemporary Art in 2010, majoring in Photo Media.

Since graduating, Mel has had multiple solo and group exhibitions around the state. She has also worked as a graphic designer, photographer and interim gallery director at Sawtooth, a local Artist Run Initiative in Launceston.

Mel will be one of the photographers for Artentwine, capturing and documenting the events of Artentwine to be used for the website and eventually displayed in an exhibition as part of Heritage Week in April 2013.

Mel is current Secretary for both the Sawtooth Gallery and the West Tamar Arts Group, Interim Director for the Sawtooth Gallery, Visual Arts Aid for Launceston Church Grammar and part of the working team organising this years Artentwine.

Images by Melanie de Ruyter

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Series 2 - Impressions.

I am intrigued by the impressions that a place or specific location leaves. Through these locations I desire to negotiate the emotional undercurrent of an image and use visual elements to orchestrate a mood. By viewing this urban landscape through a watery veil and muted tones the situation attains a lyrical nature. Through this distortion the images become somewhat removed from everyday life obtaining an ethereal quality. Subconsciously these images unveil a certain disquieting perception of my relationship to space. This perception is a constant theme that I address within my photographic practice.

Images by Melanie de Ruyter

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Series 3 Nepal

Images by Melanie de Ruyter

Series 3 Nepal

Images by Melanie de Ruyter

Series 3 Nepal

Images by Melanie de Ruyter

Series 3 Nepal

Images by Melanie de Ruyter

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Series 3 - A Second Experience

In this body of work I’m responding to my experience as a tourist. I am illustrating a personal narrative and memorialized events that accompany holiday photos. The layered text illustrates the multiple layers of experience evident within the images. The different opacities of text suggest the passage of time, with the new experiences at the forefront of ones mind and the other past experiences fading in the background of ones consciousness. The many layers reflect the multiple experiences that are encountered while travelling and the process of documenting and reflecting on these events.