Mel Reese
Mel Reese is a Brooklyn based artist that holds an MFA from the School of Visual Arts and a BS from Skidmore College. Inspired by formalism, Mel uses a unique process of mono-printing and liquid-tape process. Layering lines, shapes, and textures, Mel’s work is an exploration of form, but delves into her relationship to landscape and bodily autonomy. Mel embraces the stages of growth and transformation in her work. In a cohesive and unique style, she composes minimalist forms into intricate and balanced compositions. In this interview, Mel dives further into her work, process, and journey as an artist.
How did your creative journey begin?
Oof! What a question! Does it ever really ‘begin’ or are you just born into the journey? Perhaps it is something you carry with you from the start, and you can either choose to embrace it and nourish it or leave it behind, stamping out the flame before it can burn bright.
If that’s how I approach it, then I would say my creative journey truly began in college, when I chose to study and receive a degree in fine art. And then again when I decided to leave my job working as an executive assistant on wall street and work as an artist full time. And now again, every day, when I make the conscious decision to work on my art, on my career as an artist. My creative journey restarts every morning, when I wake up and get to recommit to my passion each day.
What inspires your work?
My most recent work is heavily inspired by my life as a young woman of child-bearing age living in a post-Roe v Wade America. My work focuses on the increasingly tethered connection between bodily autonomy and the global climate crisis. Embracing the body as the vessel and nature as the foundation of human existence, I seek to generate conversations of sustainable choice through the lens of bodily autonomy and landscape.
The following quote by Sophia Li is a major source of inspiration and grounding for my current exploration,
“Sustainability isn’t necessarily about being zero waste and vegan. A sustainable world is built on the human right to have choice: choice over our bodies, our environments, our impact.”
Can you describe your process?
I describe myself as an observational painter inspired by formalism. Which, for me means that I am constantly looking; and in that looking, I am breaking everything down into lines, shapes, colors, and textures that I then reconstruct on the canvas.
I create my paintings by pushing the boundaries of the act of painting itself. Through my methodology I have developed an entirely unique painting by way of multi-layered mono-printing. I achieve this by using Liquid-Tape to seal the negative space, painting it onto the canvas and outlining a thoughtfully considered form. I then pour a single color of acrylic paint into the outlined form and drag the paint across the exposed canvas form with a squeegee until entirely covered.
The natural tooth of the canvas exposes each drag—revealing my process. Once the paint is dry, I peel away the Liquid-Tape, leaving a positive form with clean, precise edges. Paint is applied in sweeping gestures—tracing the movements of my body. This process of controlled manipulation and layering is repeated until the composition is complete.
I am also utilizing spray paint and stenciling to create the patterns found in my paintings. It is rare that I put a paintbrush to canvas, rather my entire process of creation exists within the realm of working the negative space to create positive forms.
How has your work evolved over time?
My work has evolved through almost every form of visual depiction. From figurative to abstract minimalism to expressionistic spray paint. Sometimes people will look at my oeuvre and think I am all over the place, but, truthfully, all my work is succinctly connected and grounded within my fascination of line, edge, and form––it’s there, in every single painting I’ve ever made. I’ve spent my early year exploring my methodology, gathering information, honing my craft; yet my hand is always present.
My work now seems to be a culmination of all that exploration. A true reconciliation of all these varied approaches to the canvas. My current paintings are finding harmony in my drawn line, mono-printing, and spray painting; I finally have the visual vocabulary and maturity in technique to bring them all together in a single composition. It’s very exciting for me!
Do you have any words of wisdom for other artists and creatives?
This one is always a tough one because I simultaneously feel like I have so much advice and none at all. Each artist’s path is so different and what works for me, likely won’t work for the next artist. Figuring out your own journey through this life is part of the challenge and the fun of it all. Let yourself experience it all––all the challenges, all the excitement, all the frustrations, and all the thrills. Learn from each one and grow, do more. Keep going. In the end, no matter how hard it can get, it is always worth fighting for the life you love.
