Unlearning madness

Artist statement

Melanie Eden performs in the spirit of gift. This means she will perform when asked if she has the availability and capacity to do so. Her performance is not reliant on a monetary transaction/contract. She believes everyone has a gift they can offer this world. And this gift is best offered freely. She accepts material support from community but does not place any expectation or obligation on others to provide this in exchange for performances.

Melanie is an experimental vocalist-songwriter and accordionist with a transdisciplinary practice. As a neurodivergent individual and domestic violence survivor living with Autism and Complex PTSD, she aligns with the psychiatric survivor movement. She advocates for self-determination, community-led mutual aid, care, and the ending of stigma. A devoted Buddhist she explores an integrated arts and spiritual practice. Creating works that embed Mental Health Ministry. Engage with societal issues from a Spiritual Ecological standing. She does her best to step aside to hear others speaking up, owning up, and telling the truth. Often involving collaborators, communities, and audiences in participatory experiences of deep personal reflection and self-inquiry. Additionally, she is a appreciative member of Sydney's expansive electro-acoustic improvising group, 'The Splinter Orchestra'.

biography

“Melanie Eden infuses stories with sounds courageous and sincere. Eden’s performances inevitably transcend the everyday with a heady blend of her spirit- which dances along a high-wire of madness, beauty- which reveals herself as a performance unfolds, and, presence- a powerful and impressive force which holds an audience, for as long as Eden allows the magic to exist in the now. Eden's performances are given a power, a power made available by an astounding voice, aided and abetted by her instrument of choice an accordion, movement and acting skills.”

- Philip Cleary

Eden felt the pull for creativity early on and at the tender age of 11 was admitted to Australia’s premier Performing Art’s High School, the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts. Eden completed a Ba in Musical Theatre and promptly followed countless other Australian artists- she moved to London, UK. During this sojourn Eden found her place within a field of art practice fostered by her engagements with a production house who produced the notable You Me Bum Bum Train theatre performances and notably with one of London’s most eminent Theatres, the world famous Old Vic Eden enthusiastically participated in the Old Vic New Voices program. These events set the course for Eden’s deep involvement in community engagement and participatory arts, a practice which Eden has refined studying a Masters of Social Ecology.

On return to Sydney Eden was introduced to a group of improvisers at 82a Sunday Sessions, this group was headed by artist, performer and musician Benni Seidel. At 82a Eden was introduced to a cohort with whom Eden could explore music and musicianship, poetry/spoken word, performance, as well as recording techniques. Many of Eden’s improvised vocal performances may be heard at 82a Sunday Sessions.

As a member of Sydney’s large scale electro-acoustic improvising orchestra The Splinter Orchestra Eden found herself exploring and expanding her voice techniques as well as instrumentation. This led to an extensive and rigorous training period in South Korea with Pansori Master: Bae Il Dong. Developing a technical discipline, hard-working ethic and focus in voice timing her spiritual and philosophical yearnings to the craft. Training in Poland with Jorge Parente at The Grotowski Institute, described by its founder as a Laboratory for Cultural and Theatrical Research.The training bought the holistic work Eden had been doing into an interdisciplinary context. Fusing both psycho-spiritual-physical awareness and vocal improvisation with movement in an educational setting of living and being together. Creative development founded in the ensemble, the relational. Eden too, integrated this technique and approach into her extensive tool box.

Eden career has spanned; improvisation, noise, avant-garde performance, folk and jazz music, spoken-word, original music, electronic music and the psychedelic rock and blues genre’s.

Notable solo performances include; This is a Voice exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Powerhouse Museum) Sydney, and a coveted solo performance at the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) Tasmania.

Eden - as an artist identifies as an outlier. This identity allows a view/overview of people, events, situations, and forces- ecological, political, societal which have profound impacts to be observed from without, but somewhat understood internally. Eden’s art/performance practice is entrenched in the viability of communities. Having concerns that more and more people are recognising that the fundamental necessities to human well-being and survival are compromised, Eden inserts herself as an activist into the complex matrix of; ecology and her communities, the sub-sets of mental health, domestic violence, the prevailing bio-medical modes of ‘health’ treatment, and, the rights of the child. Eden seeks to engage and empower communities by means of shared play, self and collective inquiry and ultimately personal self-awareness and collectively shared direction.

Albums:

In August, 2019 Eden recorded her debut album Old Friend. This album is a tribute to friend and mentor Benni Seidel ‘Old Friend’ was recorded as a live performance in an intimate setting to which friends and family were invited. ‘Old Friend’ was recorded by notable film and television producer, composer and sound engineer Geir S Brillian.

‘Old Friend’ was self-released across multiple digital platforms. ‘Old Friend’ has received extensive airplay on East Side Radio and 3cr. Praise has been fulsome and Eden’s song writing skills and performance have been described as; beautiful and raw, and avant-folk.

In June, 2021 Eden released (공 空). This album saw Eden greatly refine and develop her art practice with a new focus on collaboration. Eden devised ways and means to fully utilise her new found Pansori voice skills. By using the Verbatim Theatre Technique with an intergenerational Korean community group, and incorporating two Korean artists- experimental heavyweights of the Korean improvisation scene Sato Yukie and Han Joo Lee.

공 空 was recorded in Korea at a recording studio specialising in classical and traditional Korean music. And is currently gaining airplay both internationally and locally. The album has been acclaimed by international music magazine Songlines that sums ‘Eden has held nothing back on this unique and at times unhinged oddity’.

Eden’s next album is now composed and she is releasing single by single. Ever cognisant of societal and political forces the album ‘A Sinkless Shore’ hopes to address the impacts on people, communities and the more-than-human which see disenfranchisement from politics, culture and society, and, who are becoming an ‘at risk’ displaced, or plain lost population. Through the power of community Eden hopes to empower, engage and grow the coming together of movements. ‘Caught’ the first single has been released November 10th 2023 and played on community radio both interstate and overseas. Picked up by commercial radio station Double J through Tim Rogers ‘Liquid Lunch’. Single ‘End of Known’ April 2022 was featured in New Weird Australia’s compilation Collapse Theories, which became FBI Radio album of the week.

Involving many creatives this album will see Eden’s first love, Song + Theatre, a new Musical Theatre, or a new genre of Musical Theatre- transformed from the usual look at us on stage entertainment, to join us where-ever we/you/me/ be. When we make a circle, we don’t need a stage.