Melissa Meier: Becoming Nature at Oceanside Museum of Art

 by Patricia Frischer

Melissa Meier, detail of below

Melissa Meier: Becoming Nature at Oceanside Museum of Art
Showing until June 25, 2023 Curated By Kate Stern  

Melissa Meier just seems to love textures and patterns and has a terrific skill in design. The fact that most of her shapes are from natural materials (I am not sure if pasta counts as totally natural) reflects her interest in upscaling materials maybe more than a true passion for saving the earth. After all, these are mainly fashion statements. I would imagine that the delight in getting lost in the process of constructing these works of art is quite meditative, certainly looking at them is a delight. The photos of models wearing the garments are stunning and extremely suitable for a high end fashion magazine. The photos function as works of art themselves. 

By far my favorite in the show is the Medusa-like head of snakes illustrated at the end of this article. Medusa was beheaded by a Greek God and her head was used as a weapon to turn onlookers to stone.  Eventually he gave it to the goddess of wisdom Athena to put on her shield to ward off evil. That is real environmental power!

 

detail of above

detail of above

detail of above

detail of above

Melissa Meier: Becoming Nature 

Showing until June 25, 2023 Curated By Kate Stern 
Oceanside Museum of Art
Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday 11:00am–5:00pm
Friday 11:00am–8:00pm