About

Contact

Statement

I am interested in images that seem almost clichéd in their representation of nature and our relationship to it. My pictures show sunlit white horses, impossibly still rabbits in the undergrowth, and trees that appear to have human faces. I’m working with the idea that some representations now seem redundant and am looking to produce pictures that create a balance between genuine engagement and suspicion. At the root of these photographs there is a suggestion of a sincere human connection to the subject to ignite the process.

I've recently been investigating with a way of working that introduces an element of detachment over when the picture is taken; prioritising external action over interior thought to fire the shutter. Using infra red devices the movement of animals and other stimulus triggers the shutter, placing more of an emphasis on the process and means by which the image was captured. This detaches the image from the photographer's emotive or intellectual connection to the scene in front of the camera and alludes instead to the role of independent activity in recording the moment.

Education

1994-1996	Master of Fine Art, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada - Personal tutor, Jeff Wall
1987-1991	First Class BA (Hons) Fine Art, The University of Leeds

Solo Exhibitions

2007	Melanie Stidolph, Keith Talent Gallery, London
2006	Online exhibition, Fotonet, www.fotonet.org.uk
2005	Melanie Stidolph, Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sunderland
2004	Interior Life, Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sunderland
2001	Common, Fremantle, London
1997	Shallows, Kamloops Art Gallery, Canada

Group Exhibitions

Forthcoming	Collectible, Zeitgeist Project Space, London Photo-Soup, London
2011	Notebook 4, The Studio, London Fotoseptiembre 2011, Mexico City Nine Point Perspective, Hotshoe Gallery, London Chainletter, www.swarm-of-consciousness.com Contact vs Tripod, Studio Strike, London Harbingers, Centrum, Berlin
2010	Psychometry, Core Gallery, London Notebook 3, The Studio, Photomonth, London Photo-Soup, Espai 27, Barcelona Photomonth Photofair, London The Anachronistic Album, 2nd Edition, Brighton Photo Fringe, Brighton Make, Believe, Blank Gallery, Brighton Photo Fringe, Brighton Rhizomatic, Departure Gallery, London The Anachronistic Album, photo-space, London Notebook 2, The Studio, London Running and Standing, The Agency, London
2009	Notebook, The Studio, Photomonth, London Collyer Bristow Gallery, London The Shandy Show, The Arts Gallery, London Itchy Scratchy, Permanent Gallery, Brighton Territory, Otter Gallery, University of Chichester The Russell Herron Collection, Sartorial Contemporary Art, London
2008	Call Back, The Exchange, Penzance Three BY Three (2), Yinka Shonibare’s new space, London Gallery Artist Limited Edition Prints, Keith Talent Gallery, London Art Trail, The Big Chill Festival, Eastnor Curious Nature, Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance Pass the Picture, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Curious Nature, Collyer Bristow Gallery, London
2007	Pulse Art Fair, Miami Pass the Picture, Goethe Institut, Berlin
2006	YearO6 Art Fair, London Real, Fake and Imagined, Permanent Gallery off-site show, Brighton Photo Show, O Contemporary, Brighton Gallery Artists, Keith Talent Gallery, London Art Car Boot Fair, London To a Watery Grave, St Mary’s University Art Gallery, Halifax, Canada Scope Art Fair, New York
2005	Aqua Art Miami, Florida Torn Stasis, Keith Talent Gallery, London This Show is Ribbed for Her Pleasure, Cynthia Broan Gallery, NY
2004	The Shandy Show, The Shandy Foundation, London - inc. Paul Noble, Mark Titchner, Sarah Lucas Freehouse, MOT off-site project, London PILOT:1, London, nominated by Alistair Robinson Lilith, MOT, London, inc. Runa Islam, Sonia Boyce To a Watery Grave, Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown, Canada
2003	Scrambled, MOT, London
2002	Worthy Subjects: Photographs from the Kamloops Art Gallery Permanent Collection, Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, Canada
1999	Lapsus, Five Years, London, curated by John Roberts
1998	Home Base, Kamloops Art Gallery, Canada
1997	Browser, Roundhouse, Vancouver, Canada Good Sports, Burnaby Art Gallery, Canada Framed, Or Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
1996	Benefit Art Auction, Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver, Canada The Artscene, Skuggi Gallery, Rockford, Illinois, USA Endless Summer, Anna Leonowens Gallery, Halifax, Canada

Press

2010	‘The Anachronistic Album’, The Times, March 2010
2008	‘Art Trail 2008’ www.a-n.co.uk ‘Curious Nature’, www.artcornwall.org ‘The Emma Hart Biennale Radio Show’, Resonance FM, 14 Feb
2007	‘Melanie Stidolph’, The Art Newspaper, Frieze Art Fair, 12 Oct
2006	‘2006 Critics Picks’, www.akimbo.biz ‘Seven Says’, Nicky Catley, Sunday Telegraph Magazine, October
2005	‘When I Lived in Modern Times’, www.talesofnewcastle.net ‘Lust and Found’, James Westcott, ArtNet, www.artnet.com ‘This show is ribbed for her pleasure’, Michael Paulson, NYArts Magazine, www.nyartsmagazine.com ‘Interior Life’, Northern Metro
2004	‘Lilith’, The Guardian, The Guide

Publications

2009	‘The Russell Herron Collection’, Sartorial Contemporary Art, exhibition publication
2008	Pass the Picture, Goethe-Institut, Malaysia, exhibition catalogue
2007	/seconds, issue 7, www.slashseconds.org
2005	Miser & Now, issue 7

Collections

	The Shandy Foundation Kamloops Art Gallery, Canada Green College, University of British Columbia, Canada Private Collections in Canada and UK

Commissions

2011	The World in London, The Photographers’ Gallery, London
2007	Arts Trail, The Big Chill, curated by Alice Sharp

Awards

2007	Nominated for ArtSway Production Residency
2006	Nominated for PLAT(T)FORM 07, Zurich Shortlisted for ACE International Fellowship, Finland Grants for the Arts, Arts Council England, London
2004	Grants for the Arts, Arts Council England, London
1994	Study Abroad Studentship, The Leverhulme Trust