Mela Cooke was born in Victoria, Australia and educated at The University of Melbourne and The University of Queensland. Mela is a city-based artist with a love of sculpture. Mela produces detailed figures ranging from people to whimsical animals.

"With a background as a physiotherapist, I’ve always had an appreciation of the human form. When sculpting, I draw on family and friends as my models. The process involves taking a multitude of photos from all angles for accuracy of the lines of a pose.

I now work almost entirely in bronze as I find the initial process of sculpting in clay enables me to get great definition & subtlety. I have a great admiration for the medium of bronze because of its intrinsic beauty and timelessness.

I endeavour to capture the character of the individual; in the end it is the essence of the person that is most important for me to translate into the work.

I have recently worked on a series of ‘women in action’ depicting a variety of sportswomen. Swimmers are an enduring interest to me, having been a keen swimmer all my life."