Statement:
My work, in its all its varied forms, reflects the ephemeral, transient nature of emotion and experience. Spanning the worlds of urban and rural living, the architecture and environment of both locations, i.e. rectilinear and organic forms, works its way into my art. References to textiles, grids, doors, gates, portals, growth, branches and decay, all weave together to form a hybrid depiction of my outer and inner landscape. The media I choose functions as my personal vocabulary of expression, as well as standing in as proxy to emotional states of mind. I consciously work with materials that help to facilitate a sense of light, darkness and mystery.
Bio:
Melissa Rubin, a practicing artist for over three decades, holds a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and an MS Ed in Arts Leadership from Bank Street College of Education, also in NYC. She has been awarded grants from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation and New York Foundation for the Arts and received a Fulbright Fellowship to Japan. In 2017 she was a participant in the Master Abstraction Residency at MASS MoCA, in North Adams, MA. Her art has been featured in ARTnews Magazine, Encaustic Arts Magazine, Wax Fusion, and on CBS This Morning. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions and has been used in performances and movie sets. The most recent venues to show her work are Atlantic Gallery, NYC; John Molloy Gallery, NYC; Canal Street Art Gallery, Bellows Falls, VT; ODETTA Digital on SHIM Art Network; Pelham Art Center, Pelham, NY; Cerulean Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Art on Paper Fair at Pier 36, NYC; San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, CA; the Museum of the City of New York; The Burgdorff Gallery of Southern Vermont College Bennington, VT; Main Street Arts, Saxtons River, VT. Melissa taught art to children, undergraduate and graduate students for over twenty years. In 2012 she left teaching to devote herself fully to her art-making practice. She recently relocated to Vermont, from New York City, and maintains a studio in Saxtons River. Her art is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Encaustic Art in Santa Fe, NM and many of her works are in private collections in the United States and Europe.
Website: melissarubinart.com