These interiors are based on a single room- composed as though the room is a box that has been opened flat, so that the bottom of the image is upside-down.
These interiors are based on a single room- composed as though the room is a box that has been opened flat, so that the bottom of the image is upside-down. The viewer hovers above the space, looking at the objects, patterns, and furniture.
The Woods, 2005, 30 x 30 inches, Archival digital print on paperRachel, 2005, 38 x 38 inches, Archival digital print on paperGabe, 2005, 27 x 27 inches, Archival digital print on paperRosemary, 2005, 36 x 36 inches, Archival digital print on paperLuke, 2005, 32 x 32 inches, Archival digital print on paperDevoe, 2004, 35 x 37 inches, Archival digital print on paperSydney, 2005, 35 x 35 inches, Archival digital print on paperBedroom, 2003, 34 x 26 inches, Edition of 6, Archival digital print on paperJanet's Garden, 2004, 23 x 26 inches, Edition of 3, Archival digital print on paperAngelique, 2006, 16 x 16 inches, Archival digital print on canvasYard, 2004, 27 x 24 inches, Edition of 3, Archival digital print on paper
The Imagined Places series includes acrylic paintings on canvas and digital prints representing imagined domestic interiors and sentimental objects.
West, 2009, Inkjet print on canvas, Edition of 6, 22 x 34 inchesHeather, 2008, Inkjet print on canvas, Edition of 10, 14 x 17 inchesPine Root, 2009, Inkjet print on canvas, Edition of 6, 22 x 31inchesFan, 2008, Inkjet print on canvas, Edition of 10, 8 x 10 inchesAmy, 2009, Acrylic paint on canvas, 48 x 36 inchesEndangered, 2008, Acrylic paint and digital prints on canvas, 48 x 36 inchesOrganic, 2008, Acrylic paint and digital prints on canvas, 48 x 36 inchesOcean, 2007, Acrylic paint on canvas, 5x 4 feetOcean, 2007, Acrylic paint on canvas, 5x 4 feet
These collages are made from acrylic paint and pages from Architecture Digest and Dwell. Looking at the original magazines I was struck by the impersonality of the luxurious rooms. With a mixture of desire and disgust I have added gestural paint marks-- both blocking out parts of the image below and putting my own mark on the image.
Jewel Pool, 2008, Mixed media collage, 8.5 x 11 inchesLil' Dog, 2008, Mixed media collage, 8.5 x 11 inchesInhabit, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 12 x 13 3/4 inchesMy House, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 8 1/2 x 6 1/4 inchesSet Table, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage,7 1/2 x 11 inchesMirror Room, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage,16 3/4 x 11 inchesKitchen Garden, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 10 1/2 x 10 1/2 inchesFinishing Touch, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 9 1/4 x 11 3/4 inchesFloor Space, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 9 1/4 x 8 3/4 inchesAlmost Nothing, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 11 3/4 x 18 inchesCurved Room, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 11 3/4 x 17 1/2 inchesBeach House, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 6 1/4 x 10 1/2 inchesAt Home, 2009, Acrylic paint and magazine collage, 19 x 11 inchesUntitled, 2008, Collage, 16.5 x 11 inchesUntitled, 2008, Collage, 15 x 11.5 inchesUntitled, 2008, Collage, 23.5 x 18 inches
This large (4 by 20 foot) print was on view from March - October 2009 on 23rd St Between 9th and 10th avenues in Manhattan. The image represents a bright interior, contrasting with the brick exterior of the apartment building on which it was installed.
This stop-animation was developed specifically for an LED billboard. It was the first of two stop-animation works (the other being Cowgirl, 2011) to participate in the Billboard Art Project. Desert runs 3 minutes and was shown on an LED billboard on Interstate I95 in Richmond VA, October 2010. (photo by Rachael Gorchov)
The imagery in Cowgirl came from a cabin for wranglers on a dude ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Cowgirl is a short looping video animation. It was originally formatted for LED Billboard. It was shown in Nashville TN in 2011 as part of the Billboard Art Project. It has been adapted for gallery viewing as an LCD projection.
This series of collages are made from gouache and an antique book titled American Heritage. The book was a history textbook consisting of images and stories of European settlement and expansion into the west. The addition of the silhouetted trees, and tipped geometric collage pieces, adds to the feeling that our current outlook on the American landscape has become less optimistic
American Heritage #1, 2012, Gouache and magazine collage, 9 x 10 1/2 inchesAmerican Heritage #2, 2012, Gouache and magazine collage, 8 1/2 x 12 inchesAmerican Heritage #3, 2012, Gouache and magazine collage, 8 x 8 1/2 inchesAmerican Heritage #4, 2012, Gouache and magazine collageAmerican Heritage #5, 2012, Gouache and magazine collage, 11 x 8 1/2 inchesAmerican Heritage #6, 2012, Gouache and magazine collage, 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 inchesAmerican Heritage #7, 2012, Gouache and magazine collage, 11 x 9 inchesAmerican Heritage #8, 2012, Gouache and magazine collage, 11x 13 inches
Inspired by my first years in Arkansas, this series includes oil paintings, digital prints, and a video animation. To a newcomer, the Arkansas landscape is exceptionally dramatic and beautiful--intense spring storms, dramatic sunsets, and striking trees. After living in New York City for so many years, I was especially struck by the movement of the landscape, the changes in the seasons, and the growth of vegetation in the south.
Beck's Pine, 2012, Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inchesSpring Sunset near Hickory Hill, 2012, Oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inchesSunset on Petit Jean, 2012, Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inchesOuachita Storm, 2012, Oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inchesTurtle Pond, 2012, Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches
The Garden Farm project started with imagery from a variety of sources-- photographs of farms in New Jersey and New York, images found on-line, and scans from my paintings.
The Garden Farm project started with imagery from a variety of sources-- photographs of farms in New Jersey and New York, images found on-line, and scans from my paintings. In the video, a collage of images appears and disappears, referencing the succession of land. The digital prints are based on stills from the video. These were my first prints on homegrown and homemade cotton paper. I first started growing cotton in the summer of 2013 on our farm, Wildland Gardens.
Burning, 2014, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 15 x 17 inchesDripping Zinnias, 2014, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 15 x 17 inchesWaterfall, 2014, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 8 x 10 inches
The Fleeting Gardens series consists of digital prints and a video animation. For this work, I photographed small Arkansas farms, rural interiors, and objects. I then painted scenes from the farms. I used digital tools to blend and juxtapose the painting and photography to create the prints and video animations. The prints are made using HP Vivera Pigment-based inks on homegrown and homemade cotton paper.
Fire Start, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesBack Fields, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesCouch, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesBees & Thyme, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesDawn's Chair, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesDripping Rug, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesDripping Springs, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesForest Waterfall, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesGold Sky, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesHe Fell Here, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesNo Sky, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesPorch Fire, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesRattles, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesRoad In, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesDusk After the Tornado, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesUrban Farming, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesWhite Zinnia, 2015, Digital print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inches
Carey Voss, Curator at Historic Arkansas Museum, writes:
"Melissa Cowper-Smith is enamored with memory, with forgetting, with the fleeting nature of everything around us. Her recent work is filled with markers of anxiety: abandoned building projects, roads made impassable by fire, domestic spaces empty of inhabitants, a sense of urgency and constant movement. Bright, saturated hues reminiscent of Color Field painting and sinuous gestural marks may initially turn the viewer’s attention toward surface and form, but delve deeper into the layers of atmospheric space created by collaging photographs digitally, and the work as a whole pushes toward an exploration of content. Melissa’s multimedia art is trapped between worlds: the past and its love of analog processes and handwork, and the present/future with its preference for the slick digital surfaces of high-definition photography and video. Cowper-Smith’s 2D pieces begin as acrylic paintings collaged with photographs and manipulated using specialized computer software. The resulting images are then pigment-printed onto paper made by hand from cotton and other plant fibers grown at Wildland Gardens, Melissa’s eco-farm. Each still image, each print, represents only a single moment in Cowper-Smith’s stop-action videos, multimedia projections that play with the representation of time’s passage and the ephemeral quality of memory."
Convention Fire (detail), 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, hosta, bamboo, yucca), 15 1/2 x 21 inchesThe Way We Came (detail), 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, yucca, and indigo dyed cloth), 15 x 20 inches
In these recent prints there are paths, roads, doors, and windows. Invitations to travel through the represented space. Yet, the movement is impeded. Fences, fires, trees, and smoke block the way. These are unnavigable places punctuated with shifting photographic perspectives, painted drips and the swirling texture of paper fibers.
In the video, the ceaseless stop-motion movement reminds you that time is passing quickly. There are glimpses of formation and destruction as the trees, architecture, and land expand, move, and sink away.
In both the prints and related video, the imagery represents a combination of natural landscapes and human architecture. There are photographs and paintings of rooms, buildings, chairs, beds, tables and debris. The dripping paint is ominous- referencing body fluids, leaks, rain, and graffiti. The spaces are empty of people- making them fearful. Where has everyone gone? What has happened?
There are also images of trees, clouds, and grass. The paper itself is linked to nature- being made directly from plants. The paper was formed by hand, including the cultivation, collection and preparation of the fibers. Some of the prints include pieces of natural indigo dyed cotton cloth, linen cloth and threads. This points to connections between clothes, the body for which they are made, and the natural sources from which they originate. The works asks you to integrate your thoughts of nature and human activity. We too are part of the natural world.
The work expresses our collective anxiety about the future. It points to our fear of climate change, deforestation, natural disasters, migration, war, and human and animal extinction.
Strike, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, and yucca), 17 1/2 x 22 inchesWe Are Not Ok, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, yucca, and indigo dyed cloth), 21 x 16 inchesThe Way We Came, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, yucca, and indigo dyed cloth), 15 x 20 inchesDorm Bathroom, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, bamboo, yucca, daylily and indigo dyed cloth), 17 x 21 inchesGarden Fire, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, hosta, bamboo and yucca), 16 x 22 inchesYard Explosion, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, and yucca), 17 1/2 x 23 3/4 inchesShe Worries For Him, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (kozo and bamboo), 18 x 12 1/2 inchesConvention Fire, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, hosta, bamboo, and yucca), 15 1/2 x 21 inchesWhen It's Time To Leave, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, and yucca), 17 x 23 inchesIn An Emergency, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (kozo, daylily, brown cotton, and bamboo), 19 x 13 inchesLeft Unfinished, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, and yucca), 22 1/2 x 16 1/2Missing Shoe, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, hosta, yucca, bamboo, daylily and linen thread), 22 x 15 inchesWithout Hope, 2017, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, and yucca), 15 1/2 x 22 inchesWith Their Own Hands, 2017 Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, daylily, bamboo, hosta, yucca and linen cloth), 16 x 21 inchesTemporary Arrangement, 2017, Pigment print on handmade cotton paper, 18 1/4 x 24 inchesAmerican Dreamer, 2017, Pigment print on handmade cotton paper, 18 1/2 x 24 1/4 inchesShe's Gone, 2017, Pigment print on handmade cotton paper, 18 x 24 1/2 inchesThe End, 2016, Pigment print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesDestruction Happens Quickly, 2016, Pigment print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesA Pile For Later, 2016, Pigment print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inchesAll The Things We Keep, 2016, Pigment print on homegrown and homemade cotton paper, 18 x 24 inches
Wood, black latex paint, handmade paper consisting of daylily, canna lily, summer dresses, torn pages from The Encyclopedia of Gardening, sisal twine and white cotton fiber, projector, media player and video* (3 min 30 sec looping), 6 feet high x 6 feet long x 4 feet wide *The video can be viewed through a small peep hole on the narrow side of the box.
"Unremember" is a cuboid black box covered in three large sheets of paper made from summer dresses and plant fibers. (Imagine Tony Smith minimalism with Robert Rauschenberg gestural assemblage.) Looking through a small peep hole on the short front side of the box, you can see a video projected within.
In the video, you are caught up in a staccato swirl of stop-motion imagery. It is a moving collage of painting, photography, and paper. There are glimpses of ruin and destruction as furniture, clothing, rooms, buildings, trees, hills, lakes, and the sky expand, explode, burn, move, and sink away. The spaces are empty of people- making them ominous. Where has everyone gone? What had happened?
In this work I explore our contemporary fear of disaster, abandonment, and displacement. I am impacted by the physical intimacy of the objects, clothing, and spaces left behind as people move on, are pushed away, or leave their homes because of war or natural disaster.
Details from Get HighDetails from She Let It Happen (...
2018series
Natural Treatment
2018-2019
Details from She Let It Happen (It Wasn't Her Fault), 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, horse hair, antique lace and cotton fabric), 55 x 42 inches
Project Description:
Looking at this series of pigment prints on handmade paper, you notice the irregular edge of the paper and the bright colors of brush strokes. After a moment, rooms and landscapes become visible. Floating across the spaces are pieces of antique lace, strands of horse hair, or a strip of cloth torn from an old shirt. There are areas of light and shadow, like clouds passing on a sunny day.
It's as though you are remembering a place, a time, a moment that you can't quiet discern. Like trying to return to a dream you've awaken from. The objects and spaces seem ordinary, but you are left with a sense of searching, watching, and waiting. These places feel lonely. You might notice crosses, stars, and figurines. Objects meant to comfort and remind us of our connections to one another.
This project started with interviews I conducted with herbalists in the Ozark and Central River Valley regions of Arkansas. I was interested in people who were growing their own medicine. In the interviews, I was trying to understand how the person's life had unfolded so far. I wanted to know about their adventures, loves, and losses. They explained their relationship to plants, places, and the health and illness of their bodies. They offered me pieces of cloth, recipes for tinctures, and lists of herbs. I photographed their homes, cherished objects, and gardens while thinking of the stories they had just told me.
I made the paper with medicinal plants as well as other plants from my own garden- cotton, hibiscus, and mulberry. I created paintings based on the photos I'd taken. After scanning the paintings, I used a computer to blend the photographs and painted imagery. Then I printed the images on the handmade paper using a large format HP printer with pigment inks. The images were selected and adapted to best fit the composition of the paper. Some of the pieces were coated in encaustic (resin and beeswax).
Details from Get High, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, horse hair, antique lace and cotton fabric), 55 x 42 inches
This project was exhibited at:
Batesville Area Arts Council Gallery, “Different Invisible Lines” Group show with Culture Shock, January-March, 2019
Batesville Area Arts Council Gallery, “Natural Treatment”, Solo Show, March-April, 2019
Boswell Mourot Fine Arts Gallery, Little Rock, May 25 - June 15th Opening Reception May 25th 6-9pm, 2019
Bulter Center Gallery, Loft Space, Little Rock, June- September, 2019
Without Remedy, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, antique lace and cotton fabric) , 41 x 30 inchesMom's Shirt & Heartache, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and plaid cotton shirt fabric), encaustic, and gouache paint, 28 1/2x 22 inchesWhere Medicine Grows, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, antique lace and cotton fabric), 23 x 16 inchesShe Let It Happen (It Wasn't Her Fault), 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, antique lace and cotton fabric), 55 x 42 inchesFree From This Burden, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and cotton fabric) and encaustic, 27 x 22 inchesNot What He Thought, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, antique lace and cotton fabric), 17 x 13 inchesTo Walk Above The Water, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and cotton fabric) and encaustic , 26 x 22 inchesSanctuary Chairs, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and cotton fabric) and encaustic, 15 1/2 x 22 1/2 inchesIn Search of a Cure, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, antique lace and cotton fabric), 46 x 36 inchesA Hope for Healing, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and cotton cloth), encaustic, and gouache paint, 29 x 18 1/2She Took What She Could Carry, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and cotton fabric) and encaustic, 32 x 26 1/2 inchesSeeking Faith, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and cotton fabric) and encaustic, 24 1/2 x 18Fever (yellow room), 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and cotton fabric) and encaustic, 41 x 27 inchesRelief From Sorrow (star) , 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, and cotton fabric , 42 x 39 inchesGet High, 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper (cotton, mulberry, hibiscus, medicinal herbs, horse hair, antique lace and cotton fabric), 55 x 42 inches
Encaustic Works
Ashwagandha (Fire), 2018, Pigment print on handmade paper, oil paint, and encaustic on board, 12 x 12 inchesSkullcap (Bed), 2018, Pigment print, oil paint, and encaustic on board, 12 x 12 inchesYarrow (Cup), 2018, Pigment print, oil paint, encaustic, yarrow and artemsia on board , 12 x 12 inchesSage (Lamp), 2018, Pigment print, oil paint, encaustic, and sage on board , 12 x 12 inchesCohosh (broken houses), 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper, oil paint, and encaustic on board, 12 x 12 inchesElm (house), 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper, oil paint, and encaustic on board, 12 x 12 inchesLobelia (pines), 2019, Pigment print on handmade paper, oil paint, and encaustic on board, 12 x 12 inches
Many of my past series were inspired by traveling and visiting with other people. Since the pandemic that hasn’t been possible. Instead I focused on my own garden and nearby landscapes. These works are pigment prints on handmade paper with dried flowers, fabric, and sometimes burned paper embedded into the paper. I added gouache paint and finished the pieces with encaustic (bees wax and natural resin). They are mounted on cradled boards. Each is entirely unique. These works are available at Boswell Mourot Fine Art.
Time to TimeSummer HeatRemembering SummerOnce LaterBreath of DayListen to DaylightContinue to WatchSound of SunsetAfter the DragonfliesThe Mapmakers ViewDecember Morning
And only where the forest fires have sped, Scorching relentlessly the cool north lands, A sweet wild flower lifts its purple head, And, like some gentle spirit sorrow-fed, It hides the scars with almost human hands.
And only to the heart that knows of grief, Of desolating fire, of human pain, There comes some purifying sweet belief,
Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief. And life revives, and blossoms once again
Fires, flowers, and natural landscapes have drawn me in. For their beauty, intensity, and how quickly they change over time. This series was made using gouache paint, pigment prints on handmade paper, with dried flowers, fabric, and sometimes burned paper embedded into the paper. The pieces are completed with encaustic (bees wax and natural resin). They are mounted on cradled boards. Each is entirely unique.
Not From HereRemembering SummerOnce LaterTime to TimeSummer HeatDays of RedAfter the DragonfliesSound of SunsetBreath of DayListen to DaylightContinue to WatchBeneath Our HoveringGoing, We RememberFollow, FoundWhispers BorrowedSomewhere, FireNo BelieverInhale Shadows
Rachel
Heather
West
Lil' Dog
Jewel Pool
American Heritage #2
American Heritage #1
Spring Sunset near Hickory Hill
Beck's Pine
Dripping Zinnias
Burning
Back Fields
Fire Start
The Way We Came (detail)
Convention Fire (detail)
Details from Get High
Details from She Let It Happen (...
Summer Heat
Time to Time
Remembering Summer
Not From Here
I Would
Was Weightlessness
