Melanie Goemans

 Melanie Goemans:‘ ‘In my work I seek out overlooked, incidental forms in nature and through painting and printmaking I draw attention to them. I think there is a great beauty in the rambling, chaotic lines of tangled weeds or the overgrown, especially in contrast with the man-made forms around us. Finding out the history of places I am painting, I like to think these lines tell some of the stories, as if the past is making itself present through them. The materials I use are traditional – oil paint, gesso, linseed oil, etching, aquatint, gold leaf – and come from my interest in the history of art and wanting to connect with the past and see if I can use old materials in new ways. I like looking at complicated shapes and painting them with a very fine brush. The act of painting like this feels almost like stitching or weaving, and slowly with each brush-mark the work comes together. I used to think art had to be complex to be good, but with time I have realised that keeping things simple or paring them down can make a bigger statement.’

Melanie Goemans studied Florentine Renaissance art at the Courtauld Institute, London (MA 1995, BA 1993) and Fine Art at the School of Art, University of Gloucestershire (MA 1998). She taught at Cheltenham College before taking up Artist in Residence posts in Devon then London where she lived until relocating to Cambridgeshire in 2010.

Her work is in corporate and private collections in the UK and overseas, and has recently been selected for the National Open Art Competition (2016); invited for the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition (2015), and selected for second round judging of the John Moores Painting Prize and the Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize. Across the UK, Melanie has exhibited in group and solo shows including at the Jerwood Space, London; Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London; jaggedart, London; Thompson’s City Gallery, London; Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London; the Florence Trust, London; Quercus Gallery, Bath; Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance. The Bridgeman Art Library holds images of her work for licensed reproduction.