Berman lives and works in rural East Sussex England. Her painting practice is rooted in an inquiry into perception, ecology, placement and relational ways of seeing.
Her current body of work extends an ongoing enquiry into abstraction as a field of relational and perceptual instability, naming it "Relational Abstraction". Rather than treating painting as a site of resolution, it considers a condition of continual negotiation, where form, material, and perception remain in active tension. She works with the concept of the classical problem of “squaring the circle,” to be understood here not as symbolic resolution but as an open structural proposition, one in which oppositional forces are held in a state of unresolved proximity.
The paintings bring organic and geometric structures into contact with gestural marks, but resist allowing either to stabilise as dominant. Instead, forms emerge contingently, shaped through adjacency and interruption. Composition is not predetermined but accumulative, formed through successive adjustments in which elements respond to one another across the surface, exploring paths or alternative routes.
Perception is central to this process. The work reflects a fragmented mode of looking, in which vision is understood as discontinuous and responsive rather than unified. What is seen is constructed through partial apprehension, moments of focus, drift, and return. This condition is mirrored in the pictorial field, where an array of coloured forms cohere only temporarily before dispersing or reconfiguring.
Through colour, tactility, material deconstruction and re-synthesis the imagery unfolds. Forms grow, merge, dissolve, and reappear, reflecting cycles of regeneration and transformation found within living systems. Man-made and natural elements are brought into dialogue, functioning as agents that register human intervention while remaining embedded within broader ecological networks. Compositional relationships are negotiated through tension and harmony, with muted tonal grounds anchoring more saturated elements that emerge as soft truths or sanctuaries focus spaces. These interactions suggest both individual and collective trajectories, echoing migratory movement, spiritual reflection, and spatial rhythms.
Ultimately, Berman see painting as a process of discovery, a way of thinking through how distinct entities can retain their individuality while existing together within a shared field. The work remains deliberately open, proposing abstraction as a language of relationship, recognition and continual becoming. Rather than offering resolution, the work invites sustained engagement, encouraging reflection on interconnectedness, transformation, and our position within a constantly evolving system of fragility whilst capturing resilience in contemporary life.
"The forms do not seek to resolve: they seek one another, as the paintings are negotiated rather than composed". Berman 2026
Melanie Berman: Biography
Melanie Berman (b. Surrey, UK) lives and works in East Sussex. She graduated from the University for the Creative Arts with a BA in Painting (2008), and from Berkshire College of Art (1980) with a BA in Fashion Design. Her work is in private collections in the USA Canada France Portugal and Australia. She has been awarded various commissions including SMC Design, London. Most recently she exhibited at the - Royal Academy London Summer Exhibition (2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2026) - Royal Scottish Academy (2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026 ) Her work also featured in the Royal Academy Calendar 2021. She exhibited at Wells Art Contemporary Exhibition 2021, Lido Open Finalist 2021, Beep Painting Biennial Wales in 2022 and the Bankley Open Exhibition in 2022. Barclays Bank residency 2021-22, Contemporary British Painting Prize Long Listed 2023, RHA selected 2023 The Ballinglen Art Foundation Biennial County Mayo Ireland 2023/24 The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition Mall Gallery 2023 Jacksons Art Prize : Judges Choice Huge Barclay Award 2024, Amelia Museum and Gallery Tunbridge Wells 2025 San Francisco Art Fair 2025 London Art Fair 2026 Hong Kong AAF British Pavillon 2026.