Melanie Mowinski

Year-long collaboration with Tasmania Eucalypt Trees
Peace Charcoal Tree Frottage from Ancient She-Oak tree in Tasmania, 19x26 inches
Tree Frottage and corresponding Field Guide Entry
The most recent collection, featuring trees from Denail National Park are on view at Gallery 51.
Artist Statement:
My work is inspired by the time I’ve spent in the outdoors walking in the woods, listening to trees and exploring the earth below my feet. The tree rubbings mark a moment of present time, and time on the earth. They began from a deep lack of trees and nature while I lived in Philadelphia. They record a fleeting experience; a dance of a grove, or of solitude; the movement of life; the solidity of existence—whether in the wilderness or a city square.
Biography:
Melanie Mowinski is an artist and educator based in Pittsfield. Her work has been exhibited in galleries throughout the U.S. and abroad, including San Francisco, Philadelphia, Venice, Tasmania, and Basseterre, St. Kitts, where she was a Peace Corps volunteer. Melanie’s work explores time, place and natural history within artist books and through papermaking, printmaking and collaborations with trees and other natural materials. Melanie holds an M.A. from Yale University and an M.F.A. from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. This summer she completed a residency at Denali National Park in Alaska. In the fall, she will begin teaching full-time in the Fine and Performing Arts department at MCLA.
Artist Website:
www.melaniemowinski.com