Figurative, abstract sculptures on show
Through his sculpture Mittelman explores the human form, fashioning torsos from metal fasteners or links in bicycle chains that he welds together.
Melbourne Jewish artist Marcel Mittelman turned his hand to sculpture late in his career, but he has already sold-out artworks at exhibitions and is often commissioned to create pieces for private buyers.
Yet, Mittelman considers himself a product of the shmatte trade – a third generation tailor who founded the renowned fashion label Dachet that gained widespread success during the 1980s and 1990s across Australia.
Born in a German displaced persons camp, Zeilsheim, to two Holocaust survivors in 1946, Mittelman’s family moved to Paris where his parents worked in their cramped apartment making women’s coats.
Raised in a Yiddish speaking household in an area where Jewish businesses flourished and Mameloshen was the language of the street, Mittelman grew up in between two Singer machines. By the time he was 10 years old, he was sewing seams.
By 1969, he was in New York, and three years later, he found himself in Melbourne, where he started his business manufacturing trousers and jeans just four months after arriving at Tullamarine Airport.
Dachet took off and Mittelman became a supplier to Australia’s biggest retailers before selling the business in 1996.
Soon after, Mittelman began dabbling in woodwork but was drawn to metal work as he experimented with the malleability of steel.
He often begins with flat sheets of steel that are then cut and stacked on top of each other to create three dimensional shapes.
“I love using flat pieces of steel and welding them together to create a sense movement,” he says.
Through his sculpture Mittelman explores the human form, fashioning torsos from metal fasteners or links in bicycle chains that he welds together.
The geometrical designs unfold like steel origami as the viewer approaches each piece.
Despite the complexity of the designs and intricate geometry of the metalwork, Mittelman believes his foundation in the shmatte trade lives on in each of his artworks.
“The construction of a garment is just like the creation of a sculpture,” he says. “Designing clothing is a form of sculpture.”
Marcel Mittelman’s exhibition can be viewed by appointment until April 9 at Landsman Studio, Factory 6, 136 Keys Road, Cheltenham.
comments