Artists Biography

Canberra based artist Melanie Munnerley originates from Manchester in the UK. She trained and worked as a commercial textile designer  producing contemporary designs based on her love for architecture and the natural form. Her creative work has continued throughout a twenty five year career in arts education, which has enabled her to live abroad and work at universities, colleges and arts centres in the UK, Dubai and Australia.

In recent years Melanie has returned to painting, drawing and print as a practising artist, exhibiting her work in solo and group exhibitions and embarking on commissions overseas. Working from her home studio, Melanie explores the cities she has lived in, maintaining her fascination with urban environments, exploring the consequences of progress and reflecting on the destructive power of both man and nature.

With influences from Banks to Banksy, Melanie’s work references botanical drawings, street art, urbanization and popular culture. She draws on the traditional skills of a textile designer and builds layers of paint and digital print into her work. The result is a mashup of traditional and modern techniques, reflecting a personal journey in which the artist seeks to understand change in her environment.