Exhibitions

Sabbia Gallery is pleased to present this beautiful solo exhibition, by Mel Douglas, one of Australia’s most outstanding contemporary glass artists.

Mel Douglas is a graduate of the Glass Workshop at the Canberra School of Art, Australian National University, and one of their many success stories. Mel has won a number of significant awards including the Ranamok Glass Prize 2002 and Pilchuck Glass School Scholarships in the USA. Mel is represented in national and international public collections including the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery, Australian National University, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery (National Glass Collection), Corning Museum of Glass and the Australian Parliament House Collection, along with many of the most prominent private collections, both in Australia and overseas.

Mel Douglas is a young artist who demonstrates artistic innovation and control of technique far beyond her years. Mel has achieved international acclaim for her stunning glass work. Her exquisite blown and engraved vessels embody classical simplicity. A controlled stillness is evident across all of the works, with a sense of timelessness and mystery captured in the surfaces of her work.

This body of work explores the intimate relationship between the graphic line of the drawing and the form of blown vessels. The imagery is an experience of landscape, using the vessel as a canvas for her illustration. Building surfaces through the use of repetitious line, motion is created in stationary places, forming a presence inside and beyond the forms. Making the vessels visually tactile and seductive creates intimacy between the object and the viewer.

Mel Douglas has displayed a maturity in her work that is impressive. Her glass vessels are uncompromising in their disciplined creation. They have a sensitivity and quietness that is compelling.