Melanie Lan 'Big Egg Energy #2'
Drawer 3- Big Egg Energy #2 watercolor 12 x 9 inches 2019
Artist Statement
Fascinated by the mythology of shape-shifting, I paint figures in some stage of metamorphosis to draw parallels between folkloric shape-shifters and modern day code-switchers. I’ve spent much of my own life shape-shifting in order to survive, so my paintings sometimes incorporate a sense of ambiguity as to how to be in the world. My art practice grapples with learning how to adapt to changes while maintaining a sense of self. Grounding my uncertainty of the future with an art practice fueled by cross-cultural mythology, traditional Chinese painting, and the Japanese art of butoh, my paintings frequently depict humans or animals in mid-transformation. I use this transitional imagery as a visual language to explore mental health and healing, examining how people transform in order to thrive.
Artist Bio
Born in Seattle (1988), Melanie Lan is a first generation Taiwanese-American artist. She has been awarded residencies at the FBAIR Program, Free Columbia, Vermont Studio Center, and most recently at Fish Factory Creative Centre in Stöðvarfjörður, Iceland. She has exhibited her work at Facebook EMEA HQ (Dublin, Ireland), the Imago Mundi Luciano Benetton Collection (Venice, Italy), the Pickford Artist Studios (Bellingham, WA), the Underground Gallery (San Rafael, CA), and elsewhere. She received a BA from Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University and an MFA from the Burren College of Art at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She is a recipient of the Blake Joseph Grinstein Scholarship as well as the Michael Greene Memorial Scholarship. Currently she is based in San Francisco, California and works at Case for Making.
Drawer 3- Big Egg Energy #2 watercolor 12 x 9 inches 2019
Artist Statement
Fascinated by the mythology of shape-shifting, I paint figures in some stage of metamorphosis to draw parallels between folkloric shape-shifters and modern day code-switchers. I’ve spent much of my own life shape-shifting in order to survive, so my paintings sometimes incorporate a sense of ambiguity as to how to be in the world. My art practice grapples with learning how to adapt to changes while maintaining a sense of self. Grounding my uncertainty of the future with an art practice fueled by cross-cultural mythology, traditional Chinese painting, and the Japanese art of butoh, my paintings frequently depict humans or animals in mid-transformation. I use this transitional imagery as a visual language to explore mental health and healing, examining how people transform in order to thrive.
Artist Bio
Born in Seattle (1988), Melanie Lan is a first generation Taiwanese-American artist. She has been awarded residencies at the FBAIR Program, Free Columbia, Vermont Studio Center, and most recently at Fish Factory Creative Centre in Stöðvarfjörður, Iceland. She has exhibited her work at Facebook EMEA HQ (Dublin, Ireland), the Imago Mundi Luciano Benetton Collection (Venice, Italy), the Pickford Artist Studios (Bellingham, WA), the Underground Gallery (San Rafael, CA), and elsewhere. She received a BA from Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University and an MFA from the Burren College of Art at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She is a recipient of the Blake Joseph Grinstein Scholarship as well as the Michael Greene Memorial Scholarship. Currently she is based in San Francisco, California and works at Case for Making.
Drawer 3- Big Egg Energy #2 watercolor 12 x 9 inches 2019
Artist Statement
Fascinated by the mythology of shape-shifting, I paint figures in some stage of metamorphosis to draw parallels between folkloric shape-shifters and modern day code-switchers. I’ve spent much of my own life shape-shifting in order to survive, so my paintings sometimes incorporate a sense of ambiguity as to how to be in the world. My art practice grapples with learning how to adapt to changes while maintaining a sense of self. Grounding my uncertainty of the future with an art practice fueled by cross-cultural mythology, traditional Chinese painting, and the Japanese art of butoh, my paintings frequently depict humans or animals in mid-transformation. I use this transitional imagery as a visual language to explore mental health and healing, examining how people transform in order to thrive.
Artist Bio
Born in Seattle (1988), Melanie Lan is a first generation Taiwanese-American artist. She has been awarded residencies at the FBAIR Program, Free Columbia, Vermont Studio Center, and most recently at Fish Factory Creative Centre in Stöðvarfjörður, Iceland. She has exhibited her work at Facebook EMEA HQ (Dublin, Ireland), the Imago Mundi Luciano Benetton Collection (Venice, Italy), the Pickford Artist Studios (Bellingham, WA), the Underground Gallery (San Rafael, CA), and elsewhere. She received a BA from Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Western Washington University and an MFA from the Burren College of Art at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She is a recipient of the Blake Joseph Grinstein Scholarship as well as the Michael Greene Memorial Scholarship. Currently she is based in San Francisco, California and works at Case for Making.