ARTIST STATEMENT
Remember when you were a child, creating artworks by cutting and pasting? Well, that’s what I do as an adult, and it’s just as fun and satisfying as it was when I was in kindergarten. I’m fascinated by grids, tessellations, and repeated images. I reinforce this repetition through colors and materials. Because patterns tend to be orderly and predictable, I like to add unexpected elements for humorous or ironic effect.
My work is influenced by a lifelong love of comic books, paper dolls, toys, TV, literature, and music. My only agenda is to express my perspective on topics that interest or amuse me. Sometimes the topic is simply a combination of colors or a particular pattern.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Melanie Deal’s paper collages and mixed-media artworks incorporate both predictable patterns and unexpected elements. Check out her website at melanie-deal.com. Recent exhibitions include “Presence & Absence: The Space Between” at the Evanston Art Center; “He, She, They, Them” at ShadowBoxx Gallery (Waukegan); “Swipe Left” at Fulton Street Collective (Chicago); “Metamorphosis: The Art of Transformation” at Northwestern University’s Dittmar Gallery; and “Feminist Responses in a Tumultuous Time” at Oakton College’s Koehnline Museum of Art (Des Plaines). She lives in Evanston, Illinois.
© Melanie Deal