Mela M: ARKS OF ANGLES: Where Have We Been, Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?

Billis Williams Gallery is pleased to present MELA M: ARKS OF ANGLES: Where Have We Been, Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?, the gallery’s second solo exhibition of work by the Los Angeles-based artist.  ARKS OF ANGLES features four monumental painted wall sculptures and continues through December 23rd.

Mela M’s work exists in the space between painting and sculpture. The pieces are hand-cut, hand-sanded, painted redwood with irregular angled sides.  In this current series, Mela M continues her nearly 23 year journey focused on capturing what she describes as “the universal trichotomy of geometric waves, vibrational fields and optic frequencies displayed in a dynamic and synergistically orchestrated arrangement.”  

In this series, each piece (each ARK) is made up of multiple separate shaped sections hung together as a single piece - the whole becoming much greater than the sum of its parts.  The painted geometric designs on the flat plane are punctuated by dimensional shapes that rise from the surface which in turn connect with the larger shaped pieces to create a powerful visual statement.  

Rendered in a vast range of shades of blue with highlights of selected other colors, these pieces are Mela M’s interpretation of the seamless interconnectedness of light and material form and reference the pronounced uncertainty and unpredictability of our rapidly changing world.  In her work, she seeks to both describe and inform the journey we are on.

These ARKs reference the shape (an arc as a curved form) but also are a metaphor (the Biblical ark).  For Mela M, both are highly relevant in this current moment.  The ARK references the elemental arc of the sun but also the destruction brought about by a dark and corrupt dystopian world.  But most importantly, Mela M sees the Ark as carrying a message of hope - that good will prevail and hope is eternal.

Mela M’s work has earned national and international recognition with over 23 solo exhibitions, 33 museum group shows and over 160 select group exhibitions in galleries and universities including the National Art Center and Museum in Tokyo, Japan, the Cultural Association of Rome in Italy, the Mark Chagall Museum in Belarus, and the Hudson Valley MOCA in New York. Among her residencies, she had the experience of living in Japan where she made and exhibited new works during a three-month placement in Yokohama. M’s work is in several permanent collections including the Long Beach Museum of Art in California, the SW Oregon College at Coos Bay and in MOCA Minsk. She has two MFA degrees including one from Claremont Graduate University in California. Besides being honored with numerous prizes and awards she has also been a college professor and a curator. Her work was published in New American Paintings, ArtScene, Crocker Art Museum catalog, New York Times The Long Islander edition and many more. Mela M has been working on wood shaped panels for more than two decades.