Melanie Arnold

Melanie Arnold is an artist based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. Incorporating a range of found discarded objects and constructed elements, Arnold’s sculptural practice asks how material bodies both human and non-human are valued, positioned and constituted as part of the world. Her practice explores the expressive potential of objects and the stories they carry. She sees human agency as part of a broader network of material agency which is always co-produced. Arnold believes mattering is charged with social, cultural, political, and ethical responsibilities. Attending to matter is a way for her to question systems of hierarchy and preconceived ideals.

Arnold holds a Master of Fine Arts (1st Class Hons) from Whitecliffe College, and was a finalist in the 2021 Gow Langsford Art Prize. Her recent exhibitions include Summer Sculpture Festival, 2022, 2021 at RIverhaven Artland in Clevedon, Auckland, where her large-scale sculpture Upgrade is also held on permanent display. In 2020, Arnold participated in the group exhibition Dust + Scratches at Silo 6 as part of Artweek Auckand. She enjoys exploring the potential of exhibiting both in and outside the gallery, as ‘site’ can be seen not simply as an apparatus within which to view works of art, but as a factor that contributes to the phenomena it frames.