Melissa Dorn, "Swoosh." Acrylic and mop thread on industrial felt. 7 x 4 ¾ x ¼ inches. 2020. $200.

Melissa Dorn (b. 1967, Anchorage, AK) is a Milwaukee artist obsessed with industrial mop heads, feminism, and labor. Selected exhibitions: Made in Paint, The Sam & Adele Golden Gallery; Existing in Thought, Scout Gallery; Tension in the Ordinary, James May Gallery; Mobile Home, Var Gallery; The Book Club: What Would We Do With Lynne Tillman, Frank Juarez Gallery; The Jump Off, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art; Detroit Biennale, Museum of New Art; Wisconsin Artists Biennial, Museum of Wisconsin Art; Eight Counties, John Michael Kohler Arts Center. Select collections: Saint Kate - The Arts Hotel; Northwestern Mutual; UW Hospital and Clinics.

Artist statement:

I’ve had a five-year obsession with industrial mop heads. This obsession has urged me to explore myself and the issues of labor and feminism. My sculpture, paintings, and installations utilize craft, pulling at threads of my history, midwesterness, and the ordinary. Built on the memory of my mother calling me a mop head and my many selves, the works are ultimately self-portraits.