Beka Hannah "Impact" 3rd March - 28th March 2014

It was lovely to have Beka Hannah showing for the second time at Rooftop Art Space. You may remember her last show back in January 2012 and she has yet again created a strong body of work that utilises the unconventional nature of our space. Beka's use of kitchy, playful materials and construction is the perfect contrast to highlight the serious nature of her concerns. Thanks again Beka, another great show!

Artist Statement

Concerned by the state of the environment Beka Hannah is using Impact to highlight issues surrounding humans interaction with nature.

Whether it be climate change or a shark cull, it seems humans are having a negative effect on the world around us and not enough is being done to turn this around, Impact aims to use kitsch and cute iconography to explore a often grim problem.

Biography

Beka Hannah is an  multi –disciplinary artist  with a craft based practice, living and working in Melbourne.  Obsessed and inspired by the natural world around her   Beka is often to be found fossicking for interesting feathers, bones or fossils and when she is not creating based on these she is to be found playing with her every growing horde of rabbits. 

                                   

Check out more of Beka's work at  oneclockworkrabbit.com

Jake Preval "Hotmessblues" 6th January - 1st February

Jake Preval's show Hotmessblues both delighted and occasionally repulsed it's viewers. It wasn't so much the bag of wees or the bronze used condoms. No, the cause of the repulsion was the result of putting real fruit in a perspex box on a rooftop in the middle of a record breaking heatwave. Box 9 (the one with the cut out of Jake with banana eyes) kept receiving lipstick-ee kisses from our loving RAS attendees, that is until the bananas started to rot. 

Fruitiness aside, Jake's show was a huge success, with his striking yellow backgrounds providing a wonderfully playful stage for his beautifully crafted pieces.  Thanks Jake!

Artist Statement

Revelling in the absurd and tragic Hotmessblues combines bronzes, found objects and photography in a series of small works exploring desire, distraction and the domestic divine.

Biography

Jake Preval is a Melbourne based artist working in a variety of mediums spanning sculpture, photography, installation and performance. He is currently completing his final year of a BFA (Sculpture and Spatial Practice) at the Victorian College of the Arts.

See more of Jake's work at www.jakepreval.com 

Melissa Wilson "Cut, Removed + Exposed" 11th November - 7th December 2013

Melissa Wilson creates abstract sculptures that are both visceral and aesthetically pleasing. Her subdued colours and fluid forms create a feeling of familiarity as well as a mild disconcertion, as if you are looking at a very pretty representation of your own organs. The sculptures themselves are quite complex, fabric is sculpted, sewn and manipulated around fine skeletal structures. It was a pleasure to host Melissa's show at RAS!

Artist Statement

This body of work includes fabric abstract sculptures. Mapping time and growth has been an important theme in my work. Organic forms in nature influence these sculptures made with various opaque and translucent fabrics, which investigate branching out and regenerating new growth. 

Biography

Melissa Wilson is currently studying her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art) at The Victorian College of Art, Melbourne 2012-2014

See more of Melissa Wilson's work at www.meljanewilson.tumblr.com

Sian Parany "Crust" 16th September - 12th October 2013

We felt that Sian Parany's show Crust was the perfect way to welcome in spring. 

Sian's pastel coloured plaster sculptures are designed to fade over time and with that comes a quiet and delicate movement and an evolving artwork. Sian has devised her own methods of producing her work through experimentation but there is an element of chance that makes viewing her art quite a visceral and immensely enjoyable experience. It was a joy to host this exhibition in our space and we look forward to seeing what Miss Parany does next!

            

Artist Statement

Time rings in wood and sandstone, amber and fossilised bones. Time plays out, is recorded and reinterpreted in numerous ways; the relationship between our environment and time is intrinsic, evident in everything. Crust seeks to capture and recontextualise time, active yet frozen; objects of  liquid time, played out in colour and form, solidified for now.

Biography

Sian Parany is a Melbourne based artist who completed her bachelor of fine art at RMIT . She is a multi disciplinary artist who enjoys the exploration of colour and form and in particular the relationship between painting and sculpture. 

To see more of Sian's work please visit sianparany.com