Image:
Melanie BALL
Fungi 2022
appliqued fabric on wool felt
1 – 31 October 2022
Gallery Shop
Spring is the season for a colourful display of artisan hats in the Gallery Shop. The exhibition, titled Art aHead! is the work of Melanie Ball, a local artisan behind the upcycled fashion label Appliquez Moi. Unique hats within the exhibition depict flora, fauna, landscapes, and quirky scenes.
Of her practice, Ball states, “I rescue (mostly 100% wool felt) hats from op shops and decorate them in a range of themes from abstract to Australiana, creating one-off wearable artworks. I applique fabrics to the hats, and finish the edges with glue and paints. Every hat is unique, because every blank hat I rescue is different.”
“I started upcycling jackets in the 1990s because I was bored with my then home of Melbourne’s obsession with basic black. I decorated my first hat as a gift and the rest, as they say, is history.”
All works in the Gallery Shop are available for purchase from Benalla Art Gallery,
or by contacting the Gallery on: T 03 5760 2619 or gallery@benalla.vic.gov.au