Solastalgia 2021

MAY SPACE online is proud to present a group online exhibition, artist in focus, and project by an artist collective featuring Carol Hudson, Jo Mellor, and Katya Petetskaya.

Solastalgia describes the sense of melancholy and loss which can result from the alteration or degradation of the natural environment. It can be experienced as a sense of nostalgia for the things that have gone, as well as persistent suffering and despair as the world we inhabit continues to devolve and mutate. This exhibition presents a multidisciplinary and multifaceted exploration of solastalgia as it plagues individuals and communities both in a universal and local context.

Solastalgia is a collaborative exploration of the plethora of environmental challenges that define our contemporary existence. As each artist investigates these challenges with an entirely unique approach, their body of work synthesises as a demonstration of care and compassion for our natural world, and recognises the losses we have endured. Featuring the work of Carol Hudson, Katya Petetskaya and Jo Mellor, three independent female artists, each research postgraduates of UNSW Art, Design & Architecture. Diverse in their materiality and methodologies, these works are harmonised by their shared attributes of delicate, sensitive and conscientious craftsmanship - characteristics which contribute towards a collective femininity.

Featuring Carol Hudson, Katya Petetskaya, and Jo Mellor.

Carol Hudson is an artist currently living and working in Sydney. Using the visual language of the beach in combination with human artefacts, Hudson speaks to the connection and disconnection between humans and nature.Jo Mellor investigates the environmental degradation of Far West NSW from extended periods of drought, water mismanagement, and presence of the mining industry. Katya Petetskaya is a visual artist working across painting and performance art. Born in the Soviet Union, she grew up through the change of regimes in 1990s Russia, which continue to have an impact on her practice today.