Melanie Dorson

Artist Information

Born: Ravenna, OH
Currently Resides: Chicago, IL

Contact Information:

Email: melanie_dorson (at) ekit (dot) com
Website: www.melaniedorson.com

Medium(s) Worked in:
Printmaking
Textile

Teaching Certified: No

Artist CV:
Download file

Available for Commission: Yes

Artist Statement

I am both a printmaker and a fiber artist. In both media, my images are, in large part, inspired by my interest in the travel poetry of Elizabeth Bishop and my own experiences of landscape in the diverse places I have lived (Taiwan, Italy, Ireland, Minneapolis, Chicago, and San Francisco).
In my prints, I use a combination of printmaking and photo techniques—including photolithography, Polaroid transfer and photocopy transfers. I frequently work with photos that I take with my plastic Holga camera that is held together with duct tape. It’s a very low-tech medium-format camera.

I never know exactly what will appear on my negatives and that is why I love it.

I scan these original photographs into a computer, make minor adjustments to brightness/contrast, and output them onto transparencies for exposing plates that I hand-print onto archival paper.

I create my fiber pieces on a table-loom and use double-weave, leno-weave and plain weave structures. I always hand-dye or hand-paint my yarn and sometimes use tie-dying or space-dying to achieve “accidental” color effects. In my current fiber pieces, I repeat a process of weaving, painting, unweaving and re-weaving multiple times in order to discover unexpected shifts in color.

Additional Information

Past Comissions: Private woven book commission, 2003
Private polaroid transfer commissions, 2006, 2007

Press:
Misc.: Community Arts Assistance Program Grant, 2006
City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Illinois Arts Council
Reimbursement grant for creation of photolithograph series

Copyright © 2006 A:LIST.

Hyde Park Art Center