“Belonging”
My works are intimate meditations on the sublime in nature. I build layers of paint, scraping through them to reveal colors. These diffuse and spontaneous actions lead to organic, process-driven patterns. In the vein of speculative feminism, my visual mark-making contemplates the “art of living on a damaged planet” (Anne Tsing). What ways of living unfold? “Belonging,” was created in response to the 2018 deportation crisis – the year when over 2,700 children were separated from their families. It is mind-blowing that family reunification efforts are just re-commencing in May 2021, with the DHS promising to provide an update on efforts to repair family separations under the Trump administration almost three years later.
Melissa Wang is a self-taught artist. She researched science-fiction literature as a Ph.D. candidate at UC Davis, California, before segueing into tech. In late 2019, she began full-time art-making as a means of inspiring social and ecological liberation. Since then, she has exhibited nationally at the Woman Made Gallery, Torrance Art Museum, and the de Young Museum with a solo exhibition at Root Division (Frank-Ratchye space). Her work can be found in corporate collections, including Facebook in Menlo Park, CA.