Melissa Dickenson

Overview
Melissa Dickenson
Melissa Dickenson’s works on canvas are comprised of raw earth pigments she collects and catalogs in the form of rocks and minerals while hiking, walking, and experiencing her surroundings. She processes the rocks and minerals in her studio, by hand with a mortar in pestle, to create her own paints. She creates abstract landscapes using these paints. Dickenson physically transports terroir to the viewer in each painting’s surface which visibly contains the gritty, yet sometimes silky-smooth grains of sand, ground rocks, charcoal, soil and earth. Each painting is a portrait of the place in which its pigments are derived and each palette is augmented from a vast earth pigment library from the artist’s travels. 

 

Dickenson’s work is rooted in reverence for our earth and a deep connection to the body, material, and place. Although many would consider her a painter, the origin of her works utilizes photography, sculpture, drawing, and performance in their creation.

Works
Exhibitions
Biography
Melissa Dickenson

Education

2012 MFA California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2002 BFA Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD

 

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2020 Sonoma Charcoal, Solo Exhibition, San Francisco, CA

2019 Wanderer, Solo Exhibition, The Upstairs, San Francisco, CA

2017 WEST, Solo Exhibition, San Francisco, CA

2015 Hard in the Paint, Solo Exhibition, San Francisco, CA

2014 Portal, Solo Exhibition, The Texas Theater, Dallas, TX

2013 Parameters, Solo Exhibition, Alter Space, San Francisco, CA

2009 Hybrids of Tutela, Atrium Gallery, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean VA

2009 The Protectors, G-spot Audio Visual Playground, Baltimore, MD

2008 New Paintings, Blue Sky Factory, Baltimore, MD

2008 Fauna, Greenbelt Art Gallery, Greenbelt, MD

2008 Imaginary Oceans, Shine Collective, Baltimore, MD

2007 Exploration, Youkobo Art Space, Tokyo, Japan

2007 Flora +Fauna, Gallery Imperato, Baltimore, MD

2006 Menagerie, NASA Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022 Root Artists, Group Exhibition, Root Division, San Francisco, CA

2022 Natural Curiosities, Group Exhibition, San Francisco, CA

2021 Nature Refract, Gualala Arts Center, Gualala, CA

2019 Pulse Art Fair, Miami Beach, FL 

2019 Houston Contemporary Art Fair, Houston, Texas

2018 Now You See It, Now You Don’t, Minnesota Street Project, San Francisco

2017 Takeover, Alterspace, San Francisco, CA

2017 Dog and Pony Show, Area 405, Baltimore, MD

2016 The New Innovators, Mixx Projects + Atelier, Telluride, CO

2016 All in the Family, San Francisco, CA

2015 Voice of the Artist, Scope Art Fair, See Me Gallery, Miami, FL

2014 Access Institute Spectrum Auction, Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA

2012 Point of No Return, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA

2012 Limbo WAAS Gallery, Dallas, TX curated by Aja Martin

2012 CCA MFA Exhibition, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2012 Barclay Simpson Award Exhibition, Oliver Arts Center, Oakland, CA

2012 Drawing Realness, Will Brown Gallery, San Francisco, CA

 

Awards and Grants

2019 Ne Timeas Restaurant Group Art Grant, San Francisco, CA

2017 Awesome Foundation Grant, San Francisco Chapter

2017 NTRG Education Grant, San Francisco, CA

2012 Jurors Prize, Limbo, WAAS Gallery, Dallas, TX

2012 Toby Lewis Award Finalist, San Francisco, CA

2012 Barclay Simpson Award, San Francisco, CA

2011Travel Grant, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA

2009 Artist Grant Masia Can Serrat, Barcelona, Spain

2008 Walter and Janet Sondheim Prize, Finalist

2008 Artist Grant Vermont Studio Center

2008 Maryland State Arts Council, Individual Artist Award, Works on Paper

2006 Maryland State Arts Council, Individual Artist Award, Visual Arts

 

Residencies

2013 Jail Cell Residency, Alter Space Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2011 Moscickcie Centrum Kultury, Tarnow, Poland

2009 Masia Can Serrat, Barcelona, Spain

2008 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT

2007 Youkobo Arts Space, Suginami-ku, Tokyo, Japan

2007 Awagami Paper making Factory, Tokushima, Japan