Melanie Tahata
Kaiti / Gisborne

 

There was once a little Goth called Melanie
Who lived under the bright sun of Tairawhiti
Mel liked wearing black & music with strange noises
She enjoyed drawing and reading about faraway places
Mel moved away to study art, watch live bands and have lots of fun
She never forgot her roots and moved back in 2005 to have her son

This natty limerick sums up 34 years of Melanie's brief life. Descended from a hearty Ngati Porou heritage, Melanie grew up in Kaiti surrounded by a loving whanau. Always a bit of a nerdish loner, Mel preferred reading books and drawing to climbing trees and sport. In the late 80s Mel started listening to punk rock and gothic music. It was all downhill from there really.

She lived in Auckland for ten years; after completing a degree in Fine Arts at Elam, she moved on to a crash course in Gothic deejaying and event co-ordination. She spent the next few years co-ordinating gothic events in Auckland and Wellington. She even found a day job.  Then she moved to Palmerston North where she co-founded the Aotearoa U-666 Turbojugend. Then on to conquer Wellington, with a DIY solo show at  Thistle Hall and helping out with Punkfest 2004. Deciding that the best place to raise an army is at home, she wound up on her fathers' doorstep black-booted and pregnant. With two cats.

Melanie's art is inspired by local and whanau history, current events and DIY Punk ethics. And yes, a lot of it is black too. She prefers to use as much recycled material where she can, and loves combining different textures. Her first love is drawing, she likes to indulge in painting, design logos, posters and websites for her mates'  bands and is a seriously frustrated amateur photographer.  She considers her more serious work as bricolage and installation art, as seen in her solo exhibition at Tairawhiti Museum in early 2007.

Mel lives in Kaiti and devotes time to her son, cats and art. She intends to stay there while her son grows up, so they can be near extended whanau.

You can see more of Mel's art at www.maleficent.mediatrix.co.nz

Contact details melanie.maleficent@gmail.com