Melissa
McClellan
Images
About the Artist
Artist Statement
Critical
Essay Colvin
Q&A
About the Artist
I was born on
Long Island, NY in 1958; but I began falling in love with Florida when
I was just nine months old. One of my most memorable experiences
growing up amongst 7 lively, creative siblings was filling my suitcase
with rocks for the return home from a family vacation. Thus began my
attraction to stone. However, due to growing up in a family of
artists, where often if you wanted something you made it, I was
exposed at an early age to a wide range of media. My interest in the
natural world prompted an education and career in horticulture, while
I continued to express myself through photography, then painting, and
then sculpture. In 1995, I left my profession to more faithfully
pursue the mystery that is art. I have shown my work since in festival
venues in Florida, Virginia, and Ohio as well as museums and
galleries.
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Artist Statement
With apologies to
Gertrude Stein, a work of art is a work of art is a work of art. I
approach two-dimensional and three-dimensional work the same way since
they serve the same purpose for me. I begin by delineating or carving
out a space, separate from all existing space in which to depict or
define an idea, emotion or philosophy. Just as a song, a play, a movie
carves out a moment in time.
The most apparent
differences in these processes are at the beginning. Two-dimensional
work requires me to begin with a more predefined space, typically
rectilinear or square, while three-dimensional work requires me to
define the space through the use of form. From this point the
processes converge, wherein I make use of texture, line, color, and
diverse materials to evoke/invoke an emotion or idea. However, as I
continue to work in a two-dimensional format, I find myself
gravitating towards more obvious symbolism as in After the Flood.
In this triptych created during the flooding of New Orleans, I
included small stylized images of a willow, an anchor, and a lily of
the valley, which represent grief, hope, and rebirth.
The language of
symbolism is, I think, the language of any visual art. A visual artist
most often speaks without words. Emotional and intellectual reactions
to line, color, form, texture and specific images are our dictionary.
What is interesting to me is that this visual language, whether on an
obvious or subliminal level, is often universally understood. I use
this language as a cross-cultural Rorschach test. I do this not only
to convey my ideas, but also to allow the viewer to connect to the
ideas and emotions within themselves.
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Critical Essay
by Richard D. Colvin
Curator,
Maitland
Art
Center
Melissa McClellan
comes from a family of artists. Her mother’s father, Edward Faust
(1891-1965), was a journalist of some note, and maintained interests
in painting, sculpture, and printmaking. Melissa’s mother, Virginia
Bettinghaus, is a ceramic sculptor, and her brother Duncan is a very
well-known artist specializing in glass. I cannot discount the
importance of a lifelong artistic atmosphere in an artist’s
development, and have noted it in seeing McClellan’s work in a variety
of venues since the mid-1990s.
In the summer of
2000, McClellan exhibited her sculpture at the Maitland
Art Center. I was impressed by
the clean form, seductive texture, and symbolic nature of the work.
Of all the arts, sculpture is most ambitious, by virtue of not only
the sheer physicality of the undertaking, but in the authority with
which a good sculptor can invest an idea. Even in two-dimensional
works, one senses solidity, and presence – more of this in a moment.
In the work of
the last decade or so, McClellan merged this distillation of form –
classical rather than minimalist, I believe, and more evocative of
Brancusi than Judd – with a combination of materials that included
carved stone, kiln-fired glass, and metal. Materials carry their own
message, and function with the symbolic form of the pieces to create
small monuments to some dimly-remembered rite.
Melissa’s most
recent works are flat images. I see them as directly related to the
earlier efforts, and very solid presences. If, as an example,
recalling the drawings of Michelangelo inspires us to understand the
volumetric nature of rendered form, then forms can also be stylized
and reduced to essential versions that carry symbolic significance.
McClellan has said of these, “What is interesting to me is that this
visual language . . . is often universally understood. I use this
language as a cross-cultural Rorschach test.” In each of these series
of images (including After the Flood, Black-and-White,
and Semaphore), multiple versions of apparently simple shapes
conspire to create a state of empathy in the viewer. In this way
these new images function as cleanly and clearly as their
3-dimensional forbears. Once again, the choice of materials is
significant, also: below the main image in Semaphore hangs a
piece of wood from a construction site; signaling the danger of
thoughtless development, pandemic in
Florida.
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Questions and Answers
Q: Whether working in 2D
or 3D, do you begin your art making process by sketching or just work
directly with the material and see where it leads you?
I begin with an idea and follow where it leads.
Q What relationship if
any do you see between your 2D and 3D work? Are your 2D works
offshoots of sketching/design process for 3d work, or are they their
own pieces, planned and executed separately?
Each piece is conceived of individually; however, they are created
Using the same visual language.
Q: What design elements
do you feel are most important in your work - the execution of line or
the application of color, use of texture, space, shape?
All elements are equally important if they serve to evoke the
emotion or idea behind the work.
Q: What do you feel
constitutes or defines 2d and 3d works? Do you feel your works are in
between, like a low relief, or is there a clear boundary between the
designations?
There is no boundary as they serve the same purpose.
Q Do you want the viewer
to get a sense of movement from your work? How do you accomplish this
in your 2D/3D?
A sense of movement is important if it supports the central idea or
emotion. I do find it interesting though to convey a sense of movement
using static materials. I attempt to accomplish this sense of movement with
form, texture, and color.
Q: What design elements
do you feel are most important in your work - the execution of line or
the application of color, use of texture, space, shape?
Usually, I select color intuitively and then examine why I have
chosen a particular color or colors. I am highly interested in the emotional
effect and the symbolism that colors have to offer.
Q What is the most joyous
part of the artistic process for you/what is the most frustrating?
Same or different in 2D and 3D?
When an idea eludes me it is challenging but not frustrating; it is a puzzle,
a game, a mystery to solve. An idea coming to fruition is the most satisfying
aspect of creation to me.
Q Is there a spiritual aspect of your
work or artistic process? Do you feel that the viewer can sense or
appreciate that by interacting with your work?
The act of connection whether to another person, nature, or a work of art is
an act of connection to one's spiritual self. Therefore, if another person's life is
increased by experiencing my work, I have done my job.
Q Why do you make sculpture? Why do
you paint or draw? Why do you make art?
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