To All The Hidden Creatures
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Inspired by the artist’s wanderings through the enchanted forests of her imagination.
Melissa Launay’s first solo exhibition at The Coningsby Gallery captures her at a point which not only defines her love of myth, nature and fantasy, but also refers to Oriental miniature painting and the warm, vibrant hues of the Arab World. She cites artistic sources ranging from Sandro Botticelli, Gustav Klimt, Henri Rousseau, Frieda Khalo and the German illustrator, Olaf Hajek, all of which inform her work.
The colourful and decorative quality of her paintings, with their gentle poetry and mystery, is an antidote to what Launay considers to be the dour intellectualism, which permeates the current British art scene. Her aim is to create “uplifting and joyful images”, which are essentially Mediterranean and ultimately reflect her optimistic outlook on life.
Melissa Launay was born and brought up in the beautiful coastal town of Nerja in southern Spain. After graduating with an MA in painting and etching from the University of Fine Arts, Seville, she then continued her studies at Saint-Lukas College of Art in Brussels.
Launay participated in several regional group shows and solo exhibitions, while continuing to undertake private commissions.
In 2006, Launay decided to further her studies with a more vocational MA in illustration at the Camberwell College of Arts in London. She was soon offered three prestigious commissions to illustrate the “New Age” publications - “The Golden Tarot”, “Animal Spirit Guides” and “Mandalas and Meditations For Everyday Living”. These works consolidated her unique style, drawing not only on her figurative skills but also relying heavily on the colourful and decorative influences of Moorish mosaics and Byzantine art.