Melissa Joseph 'After Irving #4'
Drawer 2- After Irving #5, Ink and watercolor on paper, 11 x 15 inches, 2019
Artist Statement
One of the most meaningful roles I have taken on is a “keeper of stories” which I accept with particular care. My father brought with him from India a particularly enthusiastic affinity for colors, patterns, and materials. This affinity survived the border unscathed as it was free, odorless, and impossible to confiscate by customs or immigration officials. It may be the most tangible part of the culture he shared with us. We grew up with rainbows on our furniture, on our walls, on our bodies and on our plates. This constant interaction with shiny, soft, dazzling, crinkly, materials forms the infrastructure of my memory, my relationship to the world, and my identity. It was my first language. It is this language that I use in my practice, to search for answers to questions about how bodies are permitted to move through space.
Artist Bio
Melissa Joseph is interested in connecting people through shared memories and experiences. Her work addresses themes of memory, family history, and the politics of how we occupy both physical and emotional spaces. She has shown her work at the Delaware Contemporary, Woodmere Art Museum, the PAFA Museum, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Rider University and featured in New American Paintings, and Friend of the Artist. She is currently an Artist in Residence at the Textile Arts Center and a Media Arts Fellow at BRIC.
Drawer 2- After Irving #5, Ink and watercolor on paper, 11 x 15 inches, 2019
Artist Statement
One of the most meaningful roles I have taken on is a “keeper of stories” which I accept with particular care. My father brought with him from India a particularly enthusiastic affinity for colors, patterns, and materials. This affinity survived the border unscathed as it was free, odorless, and impossible to confiscate by customs or immigration officials. It may be the most tangible part of the culture he shared with us. We grew up with rainbows on our furniture, on our walls, on our bodies and on our plates. This constant interaction with shiny, soft, dazzling, crinkly, materials forms the infrastructure of my memory, my relationship to the world, and my identity. It was my first language. It is this language that I use in my practice, to search for answers to questions about how bodies are permitted to move through space.
Artist Bio
Melissa Joseph is interested in connecting people through shared memories and experiences. Her work addresses themes of memory, family history, and the politics of how we occupy both physical and emotional spaces. She has shown her work at the Delaware Contemporary, Woodmere Art Museum, the PAFA Museum, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Rider University and featured in New American Paintings, and Friend of the Artist. She is currently an Artist in Residence at the Textile Arts Center and a Media Arts Fellow at BRIC.
Drawer 2- After Irving #5, Ink and watercolor on paper, 11 x 15 inches, 2019
Artist Statement
One of the most meaningful roles I have taken on is a “keeper of stories” which I accept with particular care. My father brought with him from India a particularly enthusiastic affinity for colors, patterns, and materials. This affinity survived the border unscathed as it was free, odorless, and impossible to confiscate by customs or immigration officials. It may be the most tangible part of the culture he shared with us. We grew up with rainbows on our furniture, on our walls, on our bodies and on our plates. This constant interaction with shiny, soft, dazzling, crinkly, materials forms the infrastructure of my memory, my relationship to the world, and my identity. It was my first language. It is this language that I use in my practice, to search for answers to questions about how bodies are permitted to move through space.
Artist Bio
Melissa Joseph is interested in connecting people through shared memories and experiences. Her work addresses themes of memory, family history, and the politics of how we occupy both physical and emotional spaces. She has shown her work at the Delaware Contemporary, Woodmere Art Museum, the PAFA Museum, Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Rider University and featured in New American Paintings, and Friend of the Artist. She is currently an Artist in Residence at the Textile Arts Center and a Media Arts Fellow at BRIC.