Mel O’CALLAGHAN’s work combines performance, sculpture, video, and installation to explore ideas of life, breath, and transformation. Through immersive environments that often reference natural systems—such as deep-sea vents and glass sculptures activated by breath—she invites viewers into moments of reflection and altered perception. Her practice investigates the relationship between human presence and elemental forces, encouraging embodied connection and collective experience.
In Centre of the Centre, Mel O’CALLAGHAN traces the genesis of life to the ocean’s depths — a world suspended between boiling vents and frozen silence. Filmed aboard a deep-sea expedition, the work reveals shimmering fluids, extremophile organisms, and ancient forces shaping regeneration. From the abyss to the coral reefs of the Philippines, she offers a breath-driven meditation on origins — where life begins, dissolves, and begins again.
