Melanie King United Kingdom
Melanie is interested in the relationship between the environment, photography and materiality. Melanie intends to highlight the intimate connection between photographic materials and the natural world. Melanie is currently researching a number of sustainable photographic processes, to minimise the environmental impact of her artistic practice.
Melanie's 2023 project Acquaintance explores the creative possibilities of botanical cyanotype toning and sustainable photographic processes. This exploration considers how location-specific sustainable photographic processes can produce bodies of work that are materially connected to the landscape. This project is centred on the Peak District, an area close to where Melanie grew up.
Melanie's 2021-2022 project "Precious Metals" considers the materiality of silver and palladium, from the production of silver and palladium within the cosmos, extraction from Earth and its uses within our society. This project focuses on their use in photography, suggesting methods of using the material that is less harmful to the ecology of the Earth.
Her PhD practice-based research "Ancient Light: Rematerialising The Astronomical Image" considers how light travels thousands, if not millions of years, before reaching photosensitive film or a digital sensor. Ancient Light comprises of analogue photographs of the night sky produced in isolated locations away from light pollution.
Artwork
Moving Mountains, Chai Tea Film Developer, 2022
Wavelengths, Various, 2019 - 2020
Submerged Landscapes, Various, 2021
Precious Metals, Various, 2022
Acquaintance, Cyanotype & Silver Gelatin Photographs, 2023
Ancient Light, Silver Gelatin Photographs, 2016 - Ongoing
Eclipse, Light Installation / Sculpture, 2017
Projects and exhibitions
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Ancient Light Solo Show, Blyth Gallery08/01/2018 — 31/01/2018 Melanie King: Ancient Light Blyth Gallery, Imperial College London Level 5 Sherfield Building, Imperial College, Exhibition Rd, London SW7 5NH Through the production of these artworks, King considers how light from incredibly distant stars can be captured directly onto photosensitive film. These photographs were captured on travels to dark... [Read more] |
Imperial College London, London | Details |
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First Light, Solo Exhibition at Leeds Art University02/11/2017 — 12/12/2017 FIRST LIGHT Leeds Art University 03 November - 15 December 2017 First Light: Definitions 1. The first use of a telescope to take an astronomical image after it has been constructed. 2. The light emitted from the first generation of hyper-stars, formed less than a billion years after the Big Bang. 3. The time when light first appears... [Read more] |
Leeds Art University, Leeds | Details |
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Moon Rising31/12/2015 — 30/09/2018 Moon Rising is a series of experimental films, which draw attention to an oft forgotten element of our landscape, the Moon – an illuminated lantern which seems to make a journey through the sky. Caught up in the busy tumult of life, we forget that Earth too is moving, spinning on its axis at 1040 miles per hour. Over the past four years, I... [Read more] |
Various, Various | Details |