Melanie Hava / Sunrise – Brolgas

Melanie grew up deaf in Mount Isa, finding freedom in drawing and painting, and as a teenager sold painted didgeridoos with her sister in the opal town of Yowah. Time spent living with her father's family in Austria introduced her to gilded interiors, folk pattern and the work of Gustav Klimt, influences she now combines with the Country of her mother's Mamu people.

Based for many years in Cairns, she fills her canvases with coral gardens, turtles, cassowaries, butterflies and waterfalls, while also speaking to the need to protect the reef and rainforest. A 2023 Cairns RSL Artist Fellowship led to Bugan Mungan, a nine-metre panorama purchased by Cairns Art Gallery. Her designs have also appeared with Koh Living, Erstwilder, BlackMilk Clothing and Maxwell & Williams.