Melanie Tomlinson at the Bluecoat

Just back from a flying visit to Liverpool stopped in briefly at the Bluecoat and was fascinated by the sculptural pieces by Melanie Tomlinson in the Bluecoat Display Centre.

Trained as an illustrator at Birmingham Institute Melanie creates images using traditional materials gouache etc and then applies them - prints them onto sheet metal from which she then creates these lovely three dimensional pieces. There were also a number of wall mounted pieces in box frames as well as the three dimensional works shown here. Her work seems to allude to some kind of narrative, or personal stories. But I was taken with the idea, that you can try and capture something of the magic, and amazement of seeing a wild animal like a deer in the wild.

There is also a resemblance to automata in these sculptures, I understand she has made automata in the past (I think?). It is interesting that illustrations can be made then applied to another surface using a print process then something more can be made with them. The print process used on the sheet metal looks like the sort of process applied to tin toys in the past. But the whole objects were quite intriguing.

She exhibits with textile artist Rachel Howard until the 7th May so you better be quick. There is a press release available here: http://www.bluecoatdisplaycentre.com/content/images/uploaded/Press%20Release%20Storyville.pdf