K. Imperial Fine Art is pleased to present its first solo show of the work of Melissa Oresky. On exhibit will be large-scale works on paper comprised of collage, and various different media such as acrylic paint, graphite, and crayon. In this new body of work, Oresky’s process is modeled on the behavior and plasticity of plant form and growth. She is creating these works similarly to how a plant would create itself. Starting with basic parameters, she allows the work to grow from the bottom up and back to front… root systems, to stems, to leaves. Similarly, color starts with a baseline grey that informs the next color, and so on toward moments of heightened contrast and saturation. Just as plants produce color by absorbing and reflecting light within the environment, a dynamic interplay of color and light develops in the drawings. Guided by logic that’s not her own, Oresky is creating plant-like structures through a process that she considers herself a participant in rather than the authority leaving this act of making open-ended and vulnerable. Rooted in abstraction, “Cultivar” continues Oresky’s exploration into the relationship between cognitive versus literal landscape.
Oresky has exhibited both nationally and internationally. Notable solo exhibitions include The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; The Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois; and the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago. Group Exhibitions include TSA New York, Brooklyn; OQBO gallery, Berlin; The Engine Room, Massey University, New Zealand; Devening Projects, Chicago; 65GRAND, Chicago; and SCA Contemporary, Albuquerque. She has been a fellow at artist’s residencies including Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona; Schloss Pluschow, Germany; Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico; and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine. She was the recipient of a 2005 Illinois Arts Council fellowship.
Oresky received her MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She currently lives and works in Bloomington, Illinois where she is an Associate Professor of painting at Illinois State University.
Cultivar will be on view February 1 – 25, 2017 with a reception for the artist Thursday, February 2nd 5:30 – 7:30pm.
Melissa Oresky, Cultivar No. 7, 2016, acrylic, collage, and graphite on paper, 49.5″ x 51.5″
Melissa Oresky, Cultivar No. 9, 2016, acrylic, collage, and graphite on paper, 53.5″ x 51.5″
Melissa Oresky, Cultiva No. 8, 2016, acrylic, collage, and graphite on paper, 49.75″ x 51.5″
Melissa Oresky, Cultivar No. 6, 2016, acrylic and collage on paper, 41″ x 48″
Melissa Oresky, Cultivar No. 2, 2016, acrylic, collage, and aquarelle crayon on paper, 53″ x 45″
Melissa Oresky, Cultivar No. 1, 2016, acrylic, collage, and aquarelle crayon on paper, 43.5″ x 45″
Melissa Oresky, Plant No. 1, 2015, acrylic, watercolor, and collage on paper, 16″ x 15″
Melissa Oresky, Plant No. 3, 2015, acrylic, watercolor, and collage on paper, 16″ x 15″
