Artist’s Statement

My work possesses a certain spontaneous roughness that reflects the intensity of a very physical approach towards my paintings. My true purpose is to manipulate the materials, exploring how they react and affect each other after they touch the canvas. Using contrasting colors, textured backgrounds, and energetic, gestured strokes, I create abstract spaces that have a somewhat chaotic and eerie atmosphere. I treat my canvases liberally and with carelessness, and my first strokes are given without any prior expectations as to what the finished product should be. From those first strokes, the process evolves, following its own unprecedented course. Each composition is a world within itself: intuitive and rough, capturing the scattered momentum of the chaos around.

Recent Exhibitions

• “ VI Salon de Jovenes Artistas” Muesum of Contemporary Art in Maracaibo, Venezuela, November 2010
• “Así Soy Yo”: Solo exhibition during Art Basel at KREON Showroom, Design District, Florida. 2009
• “Monkey Village Experience: Art to the Music”. Little Havana, Florida. 2007
• “Roving Fridays”: Series of collective exhibits. Wynwood, Florida. 2006-2007
• Damien B. Contemporary Art Center: Series of collective exhibits. Wynwood, Florida. 2001-2006 Miami Beach Arts Festival 2002, Florida.

Artist’s Links

website:   www.melissapena.com    

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