Meagan Pelham

Place: Adelaide

Born: 1986

Biography:

Meagan Pelham is the ultimate romantic, someone who creates and lives by a philosophy of true love. The imagery in her artworks invites audiences to see the world through rose-coloured glasses and to embrace moments of beauty that surround us. Meagan is a multidisciplinary artist practising painting, poetry, drawing and performance. She was selected as a finalist for the 2022 Archibald Prize with her watercolour portrait Romance is LOVE , depicting friend and collaborator Anna Plunkett of Australian fashion label Romance Was Born. Meagan uses delicate line work to depict emblems of devotion and delight, including wedding cakes, red roses and love-heart-shaped cocktail glasses. Her favourite subjects are her signature ‘love owls’, which she draws in pairs to signify how they are the most romantic of animals. Her handwritten poetry practice is expressive and intimate, a prophecy of beautiful things and moments manifested on paper. Her verses recount spellbinding reveries of dinner dates, romantic getaways and dancing with a loved one. Meagan's love poetry was featured at Cementa Festival 2022, printed onto multiple holographic perspex surfaces. Meagan is a captivating performance artist, presenting live works at the Biennale of Sydney, the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the North Sydney Children’s Festival. In 2017, in an unforgettable performance, she inhabited the Owl Bride in birdfoxmonster, a sold-out production at Carriageworks, in collaboration with Erth Visual & Physical Inc. Meagan has a long-sustained creative partnership with the designers at Romance Was Born, who have created multiple collections of couture gowns and ready-to-wear garments featuring her romantic handwritten musings and artwork.