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Mellaney Roberts: Somewhere in between and not represented form #1, earthenware, bronze glaze, steel wool & nails, 50cm (height) x 37cm (width) 37cm (depth), 2021

 

 

Somewhere in between and not represented

 

In South Africa, the term ‘Coloured’ defines a community as racially mixed and describes a hybrid community. The ambiguous nature of the Coloured identity, coupled with the absence of recorded histories and unambiguous identification with collective cultural codes, results in the representation of identity becoming challenged and borderline. This hybrid identity makes it difficult to reflect on a specific culture and social circumstances. When trying to imagine yourself differently, perceptions of identity and community become more difficult to pin down. This process can become painful.

 

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As a Coloured, in the collective memory of my story, I always felt like an invisible individual trapped between Black and White classifications. Therein lies an untold story of being somewhere between and not represented, creating the feeling of ‘not-belonging’. Through constructing narratives of lived experience, hybrid communities can challenge dominant stereotypes and subvert discourses of otherness and difference.

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Mellaney Roberts: Somewhere in between and not represented form #2, earthenware, oxide, steel wool & nails, 48cm (height) x 37cm (width) x 37cm (depth), 2021

 

My body of work focuses on presenting ceramic sculptures depicting the fluid shift of borders. I use borders as a metaphor for the way that our identity transforms as we experience various spaces. My ceramic sculptural forms are often cut, pierced, or demarcated showing the divisions in cultural differences. The divisions emphasise how the parameters of identity are often blurred and how an object’s placement in space can reference things other than itself, acting as a memory trigger.

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My intuitive response to clay enlists the rich and multileveled reference that ceramics has as a medium, evoking the permanence and impermanence associated with time.

 

 

 

roberts portrait

 

Mellaney Roberts is a contemporary ceramist who graduated with an MTech (Cum Laude) in Fine Art at Nelson Mandela University in 2017. Roberts is currently reading towards her PhD in Fine and Studio Arts at the Tshwane University of Technology. She participates in numerous public art projects as well as local and national art exhibitions. Mellaney received numerous awards, including the Nina Hole Memorial Residency Award at Guldagergaard, (International Ceramic Research Center in Skælskør, Denmark), the New Signatures Award at The Epsac Community Art Centre NMMU Exhibition and the Best Student Award at the Regional Ceramic exhibition of Ceramic South Africa. She has been selected as one of the top 100 South African Artists for the Sasol New Signatures and the Absa L’Atelier national art awards.