Mel Rayski-Mati
Mel’s love of metal came from working in Special Effects in the film industry in 1996-98. She is credited on Steven Spielberg’s film, Saving Private Ryan.
Nearly twenty years on and she is still enamoured of how a metal so strong can be bent, rolled and forged into objects of such finesse and beauty.
In 2010 Mel travelled to Cambodia to study metal arts and broaden her skills. It is here that she learned the art of making sculptures and wall arts from many hundreds or even thousands of individual parts that would eventually create large scale images and beautiful patterns.
In 2018, Mel was awarded the People’s Choice Award for Sculpture at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2018, for her piece ‘Weeping Beauty’.
If opportunity arises visit Mel’s studio, and the first thing that strikes you, is that sitting alongside the traditional blacksmiths tools of hammer, forge and anvil, is the likes of a plasma cutter and machinery that assist with bending, rolling and folding, as well as the tools and jigs she has made herself.
You will be surprised by the versatility of her work, sculptural forms, wall art and utilitarian items such as mirrors, often created from found objects and motifs of the natural world. Many of these beautiful works picturing scrolls, leaf forms and animals are suitable for indoor as well as outdoor use.
