Rainbow Over Melbourne

Enamel work on three triangular copper sheets fitted together to reveal a depiction of the city of Melbourne framed by a rainbow and gardens. It is mounted on fabric-covered board with a timber frame. The piece was created by Polish Jewish artist Martha Ash in Melbourne and acquired by Museum Victoria in 1995 as part of the Immigration and Artistic Practice Collection. This collection consists of objects and audio visual material that represent the creative processes of first and second generation Australian artists, and explores the effects that migration and exposure to new cultures had on traditional and non-traditional art and craft practices. The Museum also acquired from Martha a glass collage 'Beginning of the End' and a collection of tools, materials and equipment used by Martha for her enamel production.

Martha, a Holocaust survivor, migrated to Melbourne with her husband and daughter in 1949. She worked with a variety of different media throughout her career, including ceramics, mosaics, jewellery, painting, sculpture and enamelling, drawing on her Jewish heritage and culture as well as her own personal experiences for narrative and stylistic inspiration. She usually worked without sketches or drawings, observing 'I'm not like other artists ... I don't draw or sketch my ideas before I start. The pictures are in my head, and so I just begin to work in the medium I have chosen.'

Martha recognised the challenges involved with working with enamel and reflected: 'You can't just start doing enamels without knowing how to attack that medium; it is on copper, they are partners, it is a difficult medium ... I love the brilliance of colours, I love it ... it turns to different colours, you never know how, but of course you know if you are experienced ... First I feel is the composition of the picture and then, of course, the tendency of colours is all important to me. I adore colours.'

'Rainbow Over Melbourne' presents what Martha viewed as the beauty of her view of Melbourne from her East Melbourne apartment, looking across the Fitzroy Gardens to the city. The rainbow reflects Martha's love of colour and provides a symbol of peace, something she had searched for in Europe and finally in Melbourne.