Melinda Young

Dharawal Country (Wollongong, NSW)

Melinda Young’s research-based practice spans jewellery and intimately scaled textiles reflecting experiences of being in and understanding place, underpinned by complexities of place-based making in contemporary Australia. She is interested in materiality - the traces of human and non-human interactions left behind on the body and the land. She mostly works with gleaned or re-purposed materials, bringing existing materially associative narratives into play; creating connections with viewers and wearers that can be drawn on (or subverted) in the work.

Exhibiting extensively in Australia and internationally since 1997, her work is held in public collections and included in numerous publications. Melinda has spent the past 25 years working within the contemporary craft and design field as an educator, curator, gallery manager and writer. She has a Master of Visual Arts from Sydney College of the Arts and is currently undertaking a cross-disciplinary PhD in Human Geography and Creative Arts at the University of Wollongong. Melinda is currently an Associate Lecturer in the School of Art & Design, Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture UNSW.