Visit the Studio with Mel Reese

Here at Art in Res we don’t like to play favorites, but we’re excited to share our favorite studio visit yet –– with Art in Res artist and curator Melanie Reese. You may recognize Mel and her signature taste from our Bi-weekly Curations, but we want to formally introduce you to Melanie Reese as, first and foremost, an artist.

With Mel’s signature layering style, she crafts works that are vivid, bold, and totally unforgettable. In each imagined abstracted landscape we find fascinating depth of color in striking contrast with bright white. And we know there’s no one better to explain her process than Mel herself, so let’s take a look inside her studio and her craft together!

What materials do you use? And why?

I use acrylic paint and water-based spray paint to create thinly dragged or sprayed layers of color and form on stretched canvas. Layering occurs through repeated actions of outlining the ‘soon-to-be’ forms by covering the negative space with a bright green liquid masking tape. I use a paint-brush to ‘paint’ the liquid tape onto the canvas, allowing me to create organic, clean edges for each form. This liquid masking tape then dries to create a rubbery, impenetrable surface that allows me to pour-&-drag or spray paint across the entire canvas surface with only the particular areas I leave exposed becoming saturated with color. This technique of thinking negatively to produce a positive is adapted from my printmaking experience. The shape of each form is not only informed by the canvas size, but by the way in which the edge of the form interacts with the canvas edge and the paint marks below. I explore this methodology through two layering techniques.

The first involves pouring a single color of acrylic paint into the outlined form and dragging the paint across the canvas with a squeegee until entirely covered. The natural tooth of the canvas exposes each drag, the edge of the squeegee delineating a streak of pooled acrylic paint—revealing the natural movements of my body as well as my process. After removing the liquid tape by peeling it away with my hands, a positive form with clean, precise edges remains. To clean the edges of the form, I use a Pik-Up Rubber Cement Erasure which clings to the rubbery surface of the dried acrylic paint flakes and any rogue liquid tape. This same process of controlled manipulation and layering is repeated until I have decided the composition is complete.

The second method utilizes spray-painting a single color over the central form yielding an opaque, matte finish. A new layer of liquid tape is then applied within the colored form, and a new, smaller form is outlined. Glossy varnish is sprayed—no color is added. The result is two, positive, inlaid forms with clean, precise edges. This process emphasizes the various ways light is able to inform a single color.

What is your artwork about? What does it speak to?

I am an observational artist who paints abstractly. I am observing my surroundings––developing whimsical impressions of abstracted landscapes.

Paint is applied in sweeping gestures—tracing the movements of my body. These forms consciously interact with the frame of the painting, so that the edge of the canvas itself becomes a line demarcating the limits of the work. The result is a tension between the sharper geometric edge of the canvas and the smoother organic forms that interact with it. This tension, along with the organic gestures of the forms speaks to the moments I am observing, the constant relationship between rigid urban architecture and the endless persistence of nature.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently finishing up my Spring and Summer explorations. I am focusing on the complex color layers and patterns that we find throughout these seasons of growth and renewal. These paintings utilize the pour and dragging technique I discuss above and have many thin layers –– as many as 5 or 6 –– built up to create new patterns, forms, and colors. I am really looking forward to diving into the decay of fall!

Where do you get your inspiration?

Like many artists, I am inspired by my daily life, the world around me. I am observing and reacting; looking and making notes of colors, forms, and relationships that intrigue and inspire me.

In recent years I have been most inspired by my environment –– the constantly changing colors, textures, and smells of the natural world we inhabit. I paint the moments I’ve experienced. The sweet spring air, the cool summer night breeze, the seemingly unnaturally saturated color of a dying leaf. I find my work to be a study of these natural occurrences; an ethnography of nature’s bounty. I find this action of interpretation soothing. It helps me make sense of the world around me; to take control of what I can rather than become overwhelmed by all that I cannot.

Do you work at a particular size or scale? Why?

Both yes and no –– it depends on whether I am in the midst of creating a series of work or if I am in an exploration and development stage of my creation process.

If I am building up a series of work –– a collection of paintings that are all discussing and exploring one specific, unified topic or theme –– I typically make these paintings all the exact same size. I believe that the continuity of physical scale and form helps to connect the overall arching themes within the paintings themselves. You can see this within my The Woman, Tarot Card Series (Trump Series) as well as my most recently uploaded Color & Light Series.

However, if I am in a growth and experimental phase with my work––perhaps once I have just completed a series––I thoroughly enjoy creating work at various sizes and on different surface materials. Throughout these periods of exploration I will often create in sketchbooks as small as 3”x5” where I jot down shapes and forms that intrigue me; on paper sheets of 22”x30” where I work through developing these shapes and forms in more complex renderings; and stretched canvases ranging from 18”x24” to as large as I can fit within my working space as a method of fully working through these concepts explored at the smaller scales. I will generate many sketches, drawings, and paintings working on multiple pieces at once within a single studio session. I find the freedom of being able to move between different sizes and scales allows me to discover the best method for expressing and developing my new ideas and interests. This can be both an exhilarating and frustrating process :)

Which artists most inspire you and your work?

Oh boy, this is a seemingly exhaustive list that just continues to grow and grow. Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Alice Neel, Mark Rothko, and Jean Michel Basquiat are just to name a few –– they actually are so at the core of my inspiration that I have their signatures tattooed on my arm! Now you may be thinking, “but Mel, the majority of those names on that list, aside from Mark Rothko, are all figurative painters and your work is super abstract. Why would you be inspired by them?” Well, that is a very fair observation and question.

I only began my artistic journey into the realm of abstraction a few years ago when I was in grad school. For many years leading up to graduate school and for the entire first year of the program, I was creating very figurative paintings –– some of which you can find for sale on Art in Res. But as grad school does, it pushed me past my comfort zone and, therefore, onto a path of abstractive exploration. Although at first glance my current abstract paintings may seem a complete departure from my figurative work, if you spend some time with them, you may see that they aren’t so different. I still see the gnarled lines of Schiele and Klimt; the layered narratives of Toulouse-Lautrec; the bold colors of Alice Neel; and the brevity of Basquiat.

Beyond this classic list, my inspiration is endlessly growing: Amy Sillman, Cy Twombly, Susan Frecon, Kara Walker, Jordan Casteel, Blinky Palermo, Amy Sherald, Justine Hill, Amanda Valdez, Ann Shelton, Giorgio Morandi, Matisse, Joan Miro, Kerry James Marshall… I could keep going. On a daily basis, I am continuously inspired by my fellow Art in Res artists -- I feel proud to call them my peers.

Do you balance another job in addition to being an artist?

Yes, I do. For the past 3 years I have worked as an Executive Assistant/Office Manager for a small office in Midtown Manhattan. After 2 years working truly full-time, I negotiated to have this past year working 4 days a week with Friday’s reserved as my sacred ‘Studio Day’. This was an important and meaningful step for me. I took this office job as a stable means of supporting myself and my art career while living in one of the most expensive cities in the world so to be able to negotiate time back into my week that can be strictly dedicated to my art, my passion that is rewarding for me. However, I am excited––and terrified––to announce that I will be leaving my job to concentrate on my art practice full time at the start of the new year! Here’s to 2021 being a better year––for everything!

I also invest many hours of my week in supporting Art in Res by helping to develop and support their artist community. All these wonderful studio visits you’ve been reading over the past several months is something that I have worked with Art in Res to develop––I have worked directly with every studio visit artist to help with the editing and production process. In addition, I have also developed Art in Res’ entire virtual curatorial program. These curations and studio visits were created out of a desire to support our artists and collectors alike during this period of COVID-forced virtual existence. It not only allows artists to continue to grow their show experience during a time when many in-person shows have been cancelled, but it also allows for a more intimate look into an artist’s experience and practice.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this special peek into Mel's creative environment! Even in a virtual age, we encourage all budding collectors to take the time to connect with the artists you love directly.

We want to remind you of our awesome artist messaging feature directly on the Art in Res site––reach out now and foster that creative energy! Have more questions for Mel on her art and practice? Follow up with her directly via our messenger. We know she’ll be thrilled to answer any questions you might have. Ask about a specific painting or about her specific process in general––either approach works!