Coastal Dog

Danie Mellor’s art considers the legacy of Australia’s colonial past through his works drawing on links between landscape and cultural histories.  

His ceramic dogs are transformed into rainforest dingoes, a breed peculiar to Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands, whose form resembles a German Shepherd dog. Mellor sees dingoes as a metaphor for Aboriginal Australians, a resonating reference to the survival of culture for contemporary First Nations artists.  

Mellor’s art reinforces his connection to his mother’s Country in the rainforest near Cairns. The contours painted on the back of his dogs show the patterns of topographical maps and echo the characteristic aerial views of Country in Aboriginal art. The painted glaze design on the the dog is taken directly from a map, resembling the coastline south of Cairns.  

Danie Mellor currently lives and works in Bowral, New South Wales.