Melania Toma (b. 1996, Padova, Italy) is an Italian multi-disciplinary artist living and working in London. At the center of her practice lies the exploration of opposites, and how they can be broken down and merged to depict a new world of interconnectivity that challenges our age of the Anthropocene. Toma’s painting process collides dualities: large quick marks coexist with slender slow line drawings; thin layers of paint feature alongside coagulations of thick sand; the softness and sensuality of threads juxtaposes with the vibrant intensity of colour against raw canvas; and overpopulated planes of the canvas coexist with silent areas of negative space.
Solo Exhibitions include Five Hearts, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, Wandsworth, London, UK (2024); As Soon as the Sun Sets, Daniel Benjamin Gallery, London, UK (2023); Cabin UTROBA, Sarieva Gallery, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (2022).
Group exhibitions include ‘Re-Rooted: The Quiet Politics of Plants’, Cooke Latham Gallery, London UK (2024); Loose Ends, Side-Thames Studios London, UK (2024); Embodied selfhood, Pictorum gallery, London, uk (2024); In Rapture, the Bombfactory Art Foundation, London, UK (2024); Studio Responses IV, Saatchi Gallery London, UK (2023); Art Miami, Context, Miami, USA (2023); Sistema Tempo, MO.CA: Centro Per Le Nuove Culture, Brescia, IT (2023); MATTER, Flowers Gallery, London UK (2023); Soft Monuments, Frestonian Gallery, London, UK (2023); 2 for 1: A dialogue with the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Thorp Stavri, HAZE, Hypha Studios, London, UK (2023); London Design Biennale, Italian Pavilion with Triennale Milano, Somerset House, London, UK (2023); Dopo il fuoco, sotto la cenere, Condotto48, Roma, IT (2023); From the Rattle, FOLD Gallery, London, UK (2023); In the Garden, San Mei Gallery, London, UK (2022); Ingram Prize, UNIT 1 Gallery, London, UK (2022); Pigeon Park II, Pigeon Park Project, Manor Place, London, UK (2022); 17th International Triennial of Tapestry of Poland, Centralne Muzeum (2022); Wlòkiennictwa, Lodz (2022); Nocturnal Creatures, for White Chapel Gallery and SZN: Summer, SEASON, London, UK (2022); Daughters of Pacha, Roksanda Ilcic, London, UK (2022); The Dinner Table, San Mei Gallery, London, UK (2021); Postcards from Isolation, Archeological U, All Visual Arts, London, UK (2021); Unknown Observers, Sotheby’s Institute of Arts, The Cookhouse London, UK (2021); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London UK (2021); Venice meets Linz, Edition Doppelpunkt, The Contraband Collection, Linz, AT (2021); THERIACA, The Contraband Collection Venice Edition, Metaforte, Venice, IT (2021); STAYING WITH THE TROUBLE, l’etranger and Desmond & Austin Fine Arts, London, UK (2021); DEEP CUT, Asylum Chapel, Peckham, London, UK (2021); CLAY TM, TJ Boulting, London, UK (2020).
Highlights and residencies include (Upcoming) Thread Residency, The Joseph and Anni Albers Foundation, Senegal, GIRLPOWER Residency, France (2024); Casa Wabi, Artist in residence, Bosco Sodi Foundation, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico (2023).