Haarlem, 1993
Melanie Maria
In life, we find ourselves wandering through our thoughts and experiences -which are sudden happenings where time feels limited, but what is actually infinite. Time is passing by, life is perishable. We grow – but we also outgrow. We learn and unlearn our previous shapes. But the desire stays. – The desire to be held. The desire to be heard.
This is in the now. The now is happening. But within the now we embody the past and long for the present.
Melanie Maria her artistic necessity comes from her background in Dance and Theatre, where human bodies and (theatrical) performances are the inevitable translation of the now. She created several performances which were on-going/durational. Therefore the spectator would be always left by their own choice whether how much they would capture from the work.
After her graduation work Never learnt to share got awarded in 2019 with the VKC Award (2nd place) and a nomination on the Best of Graduates 2019: Galerie Ron Mandos – shortlist, she found herself showing works in Rome (MACRO Museum) and around the Netherlands.
Due to the pandemic and after winning the Jan Naaijkensprijs 2020, Melanie Maria naturally shifted to creating large performative sculptures in public space, which enfold the durational desire in using dead trees, plants and the passer-by as participant/performer.
Artist Mother
Melanie Maria was called an activist after she spoke in her artist talk at Collectie de Groen (Arnhem, The Netherlands) about the taboo of the mother in artistry. She became a mother in 2020 and 2022 herself and ever since she is activily committed to open the conversation about the – so called – Artist Mother.
She wrote articles, a manifest, created a podcastseries for Vrouwenmantel Art Research Group and in 2023 one of her works was published alongside 199 other Artist Mothers in the book Eye Mama of Karni Saul.