artists

MELBA ABELA
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Melba Abela's seductive forms provide the viewer with a conflation of meaning and mayhem. In conjuring up the possibilities of genetics gone awry, Abela plays with our assumptions of what we see. First glance reveals a rabbit's head, which morphs into another slightly identifiable figure—a doll's foot, perhaps? Or a snail shell? Structurally formed from a combination of discarded slip molds and hand-made manipulations, en masse these ceramic fragments create alien species. In a brilliant kaleidoscope of color, these creatures pulse in unreal pitch and tone. In phosphorescent rayon flock, the ceramic bases are coddled in a velvety texture which belie their possible danger. Danger of a world that bows to scientific omniscient claims. What might happen if our corn, grains, apples and berries began to mutate and multiply. How much control would we wield? Abela operates on simultaneous levels. A traditional ceramic material creates an irony when reflecting a manual execution of a high tech concept such as genetic mutation. The marriage of nature and artifice are united, though we are made of aware of their separations through Abela's mischievous use of natural materials offset with a brilliant, radioactive spectrum of her interpretive species.

—Deborah Davis-Price,
Curator