Art is subjective, we all know that. Some artists paint incredibly detailed landscapes and portraits, some prefer pouring their feelings into music and poetry, but this one lady is just something else.
The first thing that catches your eye in Melissa Meier’s work is not how it “confronts social and spiritual issues by incorporating mixed media sculpture into narrative assemblage” but how absolutely mindbending those shots are. Every picture you’re about to see is a real costume/item/art piece made of natural materials like stone, paper, seashells, different plant parts, literal garbage, etc. The outlandish shapes and forms make these models look otherworldly and even kind of Lovecraftian if you ask me.
It’s not self-evident from the first glance, but Melissa has been creating these monstrosities for a while now, and her installations are split into five big themes: skins, head, glass-eyed, laced, and construction. Each of these themes has a unique feel and a central idea surrounding it.
The Skins collection is all about using natural materials such as stones, eggshells, sticks, feathers, and other stuff you can usually find at a farmer’s market to accentuate the tribal female warriors’ strength, style, and beauty.
The Head series is an even weirder one. It’s basically a huge head, made of paper and some clear tape. The fun part is that the packing paper it’s “sculpted” from was originally a massive moving box that made a 5,000 mile-long journey just to be tossed aside in the end. And now, thanks to Melissa, it has a new life!
The Glass-Eyed series is probably something that will keep you up at night, so let’s just take a quick glance, try to purge these images from our innocent brains, and attempt to move on.
The Laced series seem to be the most modest of all of Melissa’s projects. It’s just some vintage doily patterns superimposed over female faces and bodies. Although I have to say, some of these look like they’re actually carved out holes, but after those eye monstrosities, it’s no big deal.
And lastly, we have the Construction series. And… It’s something all right. The theme of femininity is everpresent, and the artist is trying very hard to make items from antique stores and trash bins look “deep and meaningful.”
Whatever you think about Meier’s taste and style, you can’t deny that her art does have its own charm, and it’s very refreshing!