Melanie Rothschild​

Paint Lust

 

I very much believe that art is something which can't be adequately explained with words . . . and often, words to describe art feel like they almost undermine the essence of the work altogether.

 

With that context in place, I’ll talk a bit about my work:

 

I try to work from my gut. It can take a while to get down to that spot where I'm really just 'dancing' with the paint. When I get into that zone, it is an ecstatic place.

 

I have strong political feelings but I don’t focus my work on that. The marrow of my work is a deep reverence for the sacred nature of our human ability for creative thinking-it’s what distinguishes us as humans. Beavers have been making their dams the same way for millennia, but people have the evolutionary good fortune to be able to think for themselves, to innovate, to be creative. And art is the ‘shrine,’ the hallowed space where that unique human capacity gets an honored seat at the table.

 

Within that sacred context, I’m a firm believer that anything said or discussed about art should make onlookers feel included; people should never have to feel they don’t belong or are somehow kept out of the sphere of creative expression.

 

I’ve also developed deep learning around the understanding that mistakes are a strong driver of creativity.When I paint I try to pay attention to mistakes and stay open to embracing unexpected turns.

 

I’ve boiled down my essential artist’s statement to these twelve words:

 

Art is there to remind us that we can think for ourselves.

 

For this show, I worked a little differently. I started most of the 2-D paintings with the frame. Generally I don’tput work in frames, but I stumbled across a couple of older frames which strongly inspired me as to what shouldgo inside. I then became obsessed with hunting down frames which somehow excited me and used that as mystarting point. It was a sensational ride!