Comfort Collage

Melissa Spratt (she/her) works primarily in fibre-based art with her practice extending to various mediums including painting, photography, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and installation. However she is most known for her finger-knitting techniques where her work is concerned with immediacy and attunement to sensations. She reflects on our sensitivity to an ever-changing environment and her own inner feelings and contemplations. Spratt has won and been a finalist in numerous awards and prizes, more recently a finalist in the 2022 Wollumbin Art Award, and BAM Art Prize. She also facilitates workshops for festivals, galleries, libraries and schools. Spratt was the 2018 invited AiR at The Walls Art Space in Miami, where she had a solo exhibition titled ‘Essential Existence’. In 2019 Melissa was AiR at 11th Ave Creative in Palm Beach and was the first AiR at Relative Creative, where she collaborated on work for ‘Gold Coast City Futures Forum’. After success at The Other Art Fair Melbourne, Melissa was given a place at The Other Art Fair Sydney, where she was listed in the ‘Top 20 artists to watch’. Spratt has been successful in several grants, including a RADF (Regional Arts Development Fund) project which was completed in 2021 titled ‘SENSITISED’ comprising a body of 10 textile artworks, a print photo series and a documentary film. Spratt is thrilled to have opened her solo exhibition ‘SENSITISED & SENTIMENTAL’ in the Boyd Gallery space at the Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre in September 2024 with a body of 20 finger-knitted artworks that speak to her lived experience as a Highly Sensitive Person. Now, she looks forward to working within the arts sector more and continuing to collaborate and exhibit new work in the near future.