Artist Statement

My artworks are meditations on life experiences and encounters with nature in various locations that have surrounded me such as Portland and Los Angeles as well as Buenos Aires, Paris, Prague and the Greek island of Santorini.

These paintings and works on paper blur the line between abstraction and landscape by moving between earth and atmosphere as well as mass and space. Inspired by intriguing cloud formations and atmospheric effects, I usually start with a few marks to create a simple composition and a light source. Then the paintings guide me to where they want to go.

I use a limited palette to play with opposites such as sharp and soft focus in conjunction with extreme lights and darks in order to create a luminous image of swirling or dripping organic forms. While exploring the movement of light and color, I treat light as if it is a tangible object or force that enters the space and affects it with a mysterious presence.

 Education

1997 Studies Art and Spirit Workshop, Santorini, Greece
1995 Studies Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
1984 AA Colorado Institute of Art, Denver, CO

Bio

Melissa Reischman was born in Portland, Oregon. She later studied graphic design at the Colorado Institute of Art in Denver and earned an AA degree in 1984. The following year she moved to Los Angeles and, over the next decade, built a full-time career as an award winning graphic designer.

From 1995 to 2013, Reischman continued to work as a designer and at the same time followed the urge to pursue her own artistic vision. She studied painting with Richard Bunkhall and Ray Turner at Art Center College of Design in 1995. She has also been mentored by Linda Jacobson, an artist and educator in Venice, CA who creates paintings fusing landscape and mysticism. Now she is concentrating almost exclusively on her artwork.

Reischman’s work has been featured in five solo exhibitions in Southern California since 2000 as well as in group shows at Available Light Gallery, Brand Library Art Gallery, Gallery 825, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, McGroarty Arts Center and The Rose Café. Her work is also included in various personal collections.

In addition, she is a member of the Los Angeles Art Association, Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art and Venice Art Forum.

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