Melanie Siegel

Human and nature meet in the works of Melanie Siegel in a constructed lifeworld. In her examination of real places and landscapes, the painter creates fictitious and idealized landscapes. The subjects undergo numerous transformations in preliminary studies and during the actual painting process on the canvas. The pictorial spaces themselves, which are reminiscent of clinical model landscapes, are just as constructed as the man-made landscape. Apparent calm and harmony permeate the deserted sceneries. However, the stagings are characterized by a subtly ambivalent atmosphere. On the threshold between utopia and dystopia, the allegories tell of the contrast between longing for nature and human intervention in the environment. The depicted motifs usually appear from a bird’s eye view. This supposedly objective perspective is clearly structured and creates both a supposed distance and a certain anonymity between the viewer and the place. The connection is restored through a familiar motif, such as idyllically placed tennis courts. Nevertheless, the scene appears surreal, as the motifs defy the familiar view of these places.

In 2015, Melanie Siegel received her diploma as a master student of Karin Kneffel. Later, she received awards and grants from the Erwin and Gisela von Steiner Foundation, as well as a residency scholarship and an art prize from the Cultural Foundation of Sparkasse Karlsruhe. Her works have been exhibited in the Rathausgalerie Kunsthalle München as well as in the Museum Kunsthaus Fürstenfeldbruck and the art associations of Reutlingen and Rosenheim.