Melissa Yates

Responding to the values of beauty, goodness and truth present in Nature through the medium of drawing

works

Pencil on Panel
(285 x 235mm)

Dissolution

Is it Safe?

An Invitation

Time Will Tell

The Message

Pencil on 360gsm paper
270 x 318mm (framed size)

Viriditas

Verity

Pencil on 360gsm paper
501 x 402 mm (framed size)

The Missing Ones

Patterns in the Ivy

Memory of the Future

about

My work is asking: in this digital age, what can our sensory experience of the living world tell us about the nature of Nature?I am interested in what society considers 'valuable' and how our current culture is distorting our innate ability to discern meaningful value, leaving many feeling lost and damaging our living world.A school without walls, Nature provides embodied intrinsic value; a grounding force that can help orient us through difficult times and teach us directly about ourselves & reality.I turn to Nature as my guide through the transformative process that is living a life; the beauty of vulnerability, cycles of loss and renewal and embracing the mystery unknown are themes I engage with through symbol and metaphor.The ongoing enquiry underlying my work is a contemplation of how our human experience and awareness changes when we shift our perception of Nature from a 'mechanistic' worldview to a 'participatory' one.