My paintings are a response and tribute to my journey. A journey often includes the comfortable, a struggle and a celebration. In my paintings I visually record my response to my own daily struggles, and later the feelings of finding a solution. Reflection of my own experiences and progress create a feeling of optimism and hope, and is used as a vehicle to produce a unified composition. The viewer can actively participate and discover formal qualities, while also reflecting and responding to their own journey. 

 

Working in a meditative manner, I obsessively make connections with color, mark and texture. I paint to encourage a feeling of faith in the midst of life's suffering. By pushing, pulling, layering and scraping away, my paintings become a symbol of encouragement. Through this process, my memories of struggle, revelation, and celebration are continually being rediscovered. The details of daily routine that I had once forgotten, activates an intuitive response that is represented through my mark-making. Today's significant experiences  and influences eventually become ordinary moments in time that are often disregarded and forgotten. My compositions remind the viewer that there will be a conclusion to the storm and conflict, and can eventually move on. 

 

The compositions that I assemble create a moment of anticipation and placement within a storm. I create a space for the observer to appreciate the feeling of hope during a difficult time. As I recall information of ordinary life, I make a space that is familiar and that could be experienced in our world. The storm in my paintings represent struggle, while the sun and light inspire the viewer to keep moving forward. By combining vertical and horizontal brush strokes, the viewer can see and feel the heaviness of wind and rain during a storm, a similar feeling of uneasiness brought on by stress. While a narrow focus on negative moments can seem overwhelming, the journey overall tells a story of overcoming and triumph. My paintings are a celebration.

 

Erica Melcher