Mella Shaw 🏳️‍🌈

Whoohooo! Very excited to announce that Sounding Line will be opening @summerhallery in my home town of Edinburgh in a little over a week’s time. Installation starts tomorrow… This is part of a season at the newly launched @summerhallarts called FORM by five female sculptors all showing in different spaces around this amazing building from 1 Dec 2023 - 25 Feb 2024 Lovely to be showing Sounding Line at the same time as these talented artists: @hislopemma @yumikoo.oono @camila_ospina_gaitan @rowanewalker If you are in Edinburgh come by on the opening night - Thursday 30 Nov 7-10 pm #whatsonedinurgh #summerhalledinburgh #femalesculptors

Only one month - and counting - to go before the British Ceramics Biennial 2023 opens! Running from 23 Sept - 5 Nov in various locations across Stoke on Trent. … Here is a 1 min trailer for the film part of my installation Sounding Line. It’s been a very long project … and there are still some hurdles to get over but I can’t wait to finally show this work. Catch it as part of AWARD @british_ceramics_biennial My Sounding Line project has been funded by @creativeinformatics @creativeedinburgh and supported by @naturescot and @eswsculpture Filmed and edited @rowanaitchison #rethinkceramics #environmentalart #cetaceanconservation #ceramics

1min trailer for the film part of my Sounding Line installation for @british_ceramics_biennial This sculpture is made from clay that includes bone from a beached Northern bottlenosed whale. The whale died due to the effects of sonar used by the navy and to search for new oil and gas reserves. I returned this unfired sculpture to the sea in South Uist and filmed as it dissolved over about 3 hours. The time-lapse takes 1min. The full film for this project will be shown at All Saints Church as part of AWARD @british_ceramics_biennial 23 Sept - 5 Nov 2023. Filmed @rowanaitchison funded by @creativeinformatics @creativeedinburgh #rethinkceramics #sculpturalceramics #ceramicart #cetaceanconservation #juststopoil

Royal Scottish Academy’s 200th Annual exhibition is open now until 14 June 2026 ✨💫   This year the hugely ambitious show has been convened by @anniecattrell with the theme being “In Time” as a response to the three hundredth birthday of the “father of modern geology”, Edinburgh born, James Hutton.   In response to this connection to geology I am showing my piece Rare Earth Rising which is made in part from clay taken from a site of proposed deep seabed mining at the very bottom of the South Pacific ocean. My work calls into question how far we are willing to jeopardise the finely balanced ecosystem of the deep sea in pursuit of endless economic growth. While the mining is proposed to gather more critical mineral needed for tech and the green transition to renewable energy, it has been proven that there are already more than enough of these minerals in circulation if only they were valued and reused properly.  This is an issue of geopolitics and distribution not scarcity.    I am hugely happy to be part of this exhibition surrounded by incredible artists. This is your chance to catch the work of two of my personal heroes @juliebrookstudio (image 4) and @cathiepilkington (image 5) among many, many others. Show runs until 14 June…   The Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture The Mound Edinburgh EH2 2EL   Open Mon to Sat 10am – 5pm,  Sun 12pm – 5 pm

Janus Forms (set of five) is showing now at Hampstead Affordable Art Fair 6-10 May 2026. Really thrilled to have work selected to be part of the Ceramics Unbound space at this fair curated by @carolinejackmanartist My Janus Form sculptures take their name from the ancient Roman god Janus with two faces (after whom January was named) as they are made with one continuous surface but point in two directions. Janus represents beginnings, endings and transitions from one state to another; he looks to the past and to the future. The pieces are made from stoneware clay that is highly burnished and then smoke-fired with wood shavings such as cherry, ash and oak (these shavings are “waste” from Edinburgh based furniture makers but become a brilliant circular resource when donated to me!). As a result of the smoke firing each Janus Form has a completely unique patina. The smokey surfaces seem otherworldly like the images of far away galaxies. Ceramics Unbound is the inaugural ceramic curated space @affordableartfairuk and looks to be a fantastic opportunity to see exciting contemporary ceramics in this brilliant location surrounded by the Heath in full spring glory! 🌸🌱💫 #rethinkceramics #contemporaryceramics #ceramicsculpture

Over the next few days we are welcoming new members who have recently joined the Society. Please join us in wishing a warm welcome to Mella Shaw MRSS @mellamine Mella Shaw is an artist using clay to make thought-provoking sculpture and site-specific installations rooted in activism. With reoccurring themes of longing, loss, thresholds and edges, over the last decade she has made publicly-engaged environmental work addressing specific issues in the global climate crisis – with an intention to bring lesser-known subjects to a new audience and enact change. 📸 courtesy of the artist 📸 1 ©️Jo Spiller 📸 2 ©️ David Evans 📸 3 ©️ OliveandMaeve 📸 4 ©️ Jenny Harper

@ceramicreview Issue 339 is out and rocking the bluest of BLUES cover by Patrica Volk @patriciavolk and so much more inside (including a profile piece on me by Andre Hess @hess8227 !) … Also lots of info about up coming Ceramics Art London which will be held @olympialondon 8/9/10 May (and where I will be giving a talk on Sunday 10 May at 1.30pm) check it OUT 💫💫💫#contemporaryceramics #contemporarycraft #sculpture #rethinkceramics

Totally awesome time @natural_history_museum in London yesterday showing my sculpture Rare Earth Rising in the Earth Galleries on EARTH DAY too 😊 this was arranged as part of the SMARTEX research group conference - looking at the effects of deep seabed mining for polymetalic nodules and what can be done - if anything - to mitigate the devastating impact this will have on a currently pristine environment. My sculpture is made using clay sourced as part of this research group from the Clarion Clipperton Zone at the very bottom of the Pacific Ocean 4-5,000 meters deep. The site is so far away from land it takes 12 days on a ship to reach it. At the abyssal plain the sea temperature is 1 degree celsius and it is totally dark. Despite this it is one of most bio-diverse environments on earth - but is the one we know least about. Of the estimated 6,000 species living there at least 88% are undescribed. We are told that the critical minerals (such as lithium, cobalt, copper) found in the polymetalic nodules are needed for our increased reliance on tech and for a transition to renewable energy. However, it is clear that in fact this it is not a scarcity issue but a geopolitical and supply chain one. To represent the idea of preciousness and value my sculpture has gold leaf sections - the gold I used however is recycled and is taken in part from salvaged e-waste sources. There are already enough critical minerals already mined - what is needed now is a circular approach to the finite resources on our planet. A linear model of growth, growth and more growth is not sustainable and the costs are getting greater and greater. When will the madness end? If you want to do something go to @greenpeace and join the campaign to keep the deep sea safe #deepseaminingmoratorium #deepseaminingawareness #deepseamining #greenpeace #rethinkceramics

Looking forward to speaking @ceramicartlondon 2026 - about my practice, activism and the power of clay to inspire change on Sunday 10 May at 1:30 pm. Swipe for details of the full three day talks programme 8-10 May. Really happy to be included alongside incredible inspiring voices: @felicityaylieff @fernandocasasempere @theleachpottery @freyabramblecarter @catrincurates @william.cobbing @katemalone and others! #ceramicartlondon2026

Join Fife Contemporary in conversation with Stefanie Ying Lin Cheong and Mella Shaw, two artists who put environmental consciousness at the heart of their practice. To mark the opening of our Dear Earth exhibition, Fife Contemporary’s Director, Kate Grenyer will host this lively discussion exploring practice sustainability, as we delve into the artists’ work and the changes that have unfolded over the past 20 years. Talk ticket-holders will also get access to the Dear Earth Private View from 3pm – 4:30pm at @kirkcaldy_galleries . Booking essential! 📍 @adam_smith_theatre 📆 21 March 2026 ⏰ 2 - 3pm 🔗 /event/in-conversation-mella-shaw-and-stefanie-ying-lin-cheong/ [Link in bio] Part of the Dear Earth Satellite Programme - Dear Earth runs across a full year, opening on 21 March 2026 in Kirkcaldy Galleries and closing at St Andrews Museum on 6 March 2027. @mellamine @stefaniecheong @onfife_cultural_trust @creativescots @fifecouncil #DearEarth #Kirkcaldy #Talk #InConversation Image: Graphic includes a photograph by Findlay Macdonald picturing artist Mella Shaw in her studio. On the top right is text that says "Part of Dear Earth". Below, in yellow text on a dark green background, is the workshop title, subtitle and details of location, date and time.

Sounding Line closes tomorrow 18 Jan 2026 @mcmanusdundee This has been an incredible opportunity to show this work to a wider audience and spread awareness of sound and sonar pollution and its effect on marine mammals. Huge thank you to everyone who helped get this project into the world ♥️ @whalesorg @greenpeaceuk @scottishgreens @sealegacy

This is the last week to visit Sounding Line @mcmanusdundee - after nine months on show in the Here and Now galleries in this wonderful gothic revival museum in Dundee Sounding Line will close on 18 January… I’m hoping to keep touring the project so please DM me if you know of any suitable venues! #envionmentalart #sonarpollution #cetaceanconservation #rethinkceramics