biography
Melissa Resch is a passionate creative with a Masters in painting. She has filled the pages of three passports and countless canvases. Her adventures include teaching English in Korea and art residencies in Australia and Brazil. In 2017, after many years in Provincetown, Massachusetts, Melissa discovered a new home in Door County, Wisconsin. Her abstract paintings and block print textiles are represented by House of Crain in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. Melissa is also a private art instructor and an avid hiker.
artist statement
Although I work in many mediums—oil, watercolors, printmaking, found object assemblage, textiles, and more—my primary love is abstract oils. I use oils to create imagined, non-literal spaces and forms, incorporating views from both above and across the landscape. Combining various perspectives allows me to test the foundational strength of design elements separated from their local reference points. Inspired by Abstract Expressionism and Cubism, my process is intuitive and exploratory. It begins with freely drawing on the canvas with oil paint, then scraping and layering with more paint. Lines and shapes appear, disappear, and reappear to imply architecture, farms, bridges, boats, roadways, waterways, shadows, or living creatures. As I work, I often reflect on my enjoyment of exploring new places and my search for mind-blowing experiences. Through my paintings I aim to invite open narratives and contemplation about our relationships to the spaces we inhabit and the people we encounter.