Featured Artist Melissa Reischman

Artist Melissa Reischman explores memories, transformation and the force of light in her dynamic portfolio of charcoal drawings. See more by visiting her website.

 

 

I began my creative career as a graphic designer. Over time, I came to miss the tactile qualities of art-making. I realized a longing to investigate my inner visions.

 

 

Drawing and painting allowed me to express myself in ways that my work as a graphic designer couldn’t. Taking the time to fully explore an idea or an image has become a very important aspect of my life.

 

 

My work is an ongoing exploration of the forceful movement of light.

 

 

I treat light as if it were a tangible object and a force that enters a space. I work with the dichotomy of light and darkness to examine the dynamics of life’s phases and emotions.

 

 

Light and dark serve as a metaphor for emotional and physical transformational states, from belonging to exile, grief to joy, and attachment to estrangement. I am interested in the transition that occurs when drifting from one state to another and the resulting journey.

 

 

My art is informed by personal mythologies and my memories throughout my life—from my first memory of sunlight reflected on a lake to my solo walks in nature during a pandemic.

 

 

The artwork alludes to natural elements, landscapes, and still lifes. When I look closely at elements that are found in the natural world I often feel or envision something more than what I see with my eyes.

 

 

Through my work, I seek to connect the internal to the external. I invite the viewer to contemplate parallel possibilities that exist beyond the physical realm.

 

 

I work intuitively, one line or brush stroke leads me to the next. In constant dialogue with my work, I let the paintings and drawings guide me to where they want to go. I play with opposites, sharp and soft focus, and extreme lights and darks and create organic masses that hold a mysterious presence.

 

 

I shift between earth and atmosphere, mass and space, to blur the lines between abstraction and representation to create psychological landscape.

 

Artist Melissa Reischman invites you to follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

 

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