About Me
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BIO Melanie Mena is a young, aspiring artist located in Seaside, California. Mena has worked continuously to improve her skills and exploration process through her education at CSUMB as a Visual and Public Arts major. One of the first artists Mena ever learned about was MC Esher. Ever since she saw his work messing with perceptions of reality Mena became completely in love with the idea of being an artist. India ink on paper is, for the most part, her preferred medium. She also enjoys working with charcoal, graphite, acrylics, string, and clay. Mena would not consider herself a mixed media artist; however, she can’t stick to just one medium. Mena loves recreating ordinary places or objects and finding the hidden messages they may withhold, both good and bad. She has reflected on various life conflicts and how these experiences can shape and change people. These experiences and emotions are portrayed through inanimate objects and locations. Mena portrays the duality of beauty and trauma in her work with encompassing eerie undertones. She is heavily influenced by the idea of spaces. Mena's interest in Psychology and her own inability to grasp reality influences the artist themes she choose to talk about in her work. Mena hope to continue to develop as an artist and create work that can simply spur thought and contemplation to onlookers. ARTIST STATEMENT: MLO 2,3,5,6 I am a Local Seaside artist who works with paint and ink. My portfolio includes 6 pieces that take into consideration space in relation to mental barriers to create 'mental spaces' in my work. This body of work is a clear depiction of what goes inside my brain so conveying all these thoughts through color, medium choice, and style was extremely important when trying to understand the viewer's standpoint. The works are made of acrylic paint and ink with each medium having different effects on the space that is created. The lack of color serves as a way to convey a thought. A sketched out idea of something with no real foundation or understanding of time. I think a lack of color does well in conveying this. In contrast, what is depicted in the works is the use of perspective in a location to create a real scene that fights against the lack of reality. On the other front, the paintings are using color to show the progression of these sketched thoughts to full emotions. The use of color is important when trying to convey the overwhelming aspects of the painting and the spaces they depict. They show understanding of lighting and emotion through color. This is when we fully are depicting what reality feels like within spaces that feel overwhelming, brooding, or strange. The emotions are fully fleshed out in reality now. Going through the works we can see the struggle of attempting to find serenity to slowly losing track of my life and finally falling victim to negative mentalities. All my life I have struggled with my mental health and knowing when I am dreaming or awake. There are times when I can't grasp time or reality and I can find the energy to even eat. This work was meant to show that struggle within myself. Each work on its own shows a space within my brain and depicts thoughts and emotions. It's a vicious cycle of becoming mentally stable and falling back into a pattern of instability and these works are various steps in that cycle, various mental spaces in that cycle. We start with a hopeful beginning to find beauty in anything, to slowly fall apart and fall into the cycle. Affiliates www.opengroundstudios.com/ www.robinwinfield.com/index.php ninatempleart.com/ paulrichmondstudio.com/ |
Exhibitions
2021
Studio Tour, Odonata Winery, Salinas, California.
Studio Tour, Hidden Valley Music Seminars, Carmel Valley, California.
Art Student Scholarship Program Pop up show, Open Ground Studios, Seaside, California.
2020
Political Mural, Open Ground Studios, Seaside, California.
Dual Art show, PG Art Center, Pacific Grove, California.
Mural, Pacific House museum Mural, Monterey, California.
Student Show, PG Art Center, Pacific Grove, California.
2019
Mural, Monterey High School, Monterey, California.
For The Love of Art, Carmel Art Association, Carmel, California.
West End Art Festival, Sand City, California.
Studio Tour, Odonata Winery, Salinas, California.
Studio Tour, Hidden Valley Music Seminars, Carmel Valley, California.
Art Student Scholarship Program Pop up show, Open Ground Studios, Seaside, California.
2020
Political Mural, Open Ground Studios, Seaside, California.
Dual Art show, PG Art Center, Pacific Grove, California.
Mural, Pacific House museum Mural, Monterey, California.
Student Show, PG Art Center, Pacific Grove, California.
2019
Mural, Monterey High School, Monterey, California.
For The Love of Art, Carmel Art Association, Carmel, California.
West End Art Festival, Sand City, California.
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"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all"
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