ArtPop Artist Spotlights: Public Art Making a Difference

 

Melissa McGill is a Mixed Media artist and much of her work consists of photo collage combined with encaustic or acrylic medium. Her multi layered, luminous images, combining industry and nature have become her trademark.

 


 You have a powerful way of expressing your thoughts with your abstract work. Are you currently working on anything and what current issues does it directly speak to?

I am working on a series of abstract landscapes, some are details of landscapes and others are overall interpretations of expansive views. They are my way of adapting to living in the desert, so more personal than the Choices series.

Choices 5 reads like a hieroglyph mixed with a murder mystery. How would you instruct viewers to interpret the work?

The Choices works are trying to convey the question of whether or not we actually have choices or if our lives are decided by an accident of birth. Images of convicts from the early 1900’s are scattered throughout and contrasted with pop advertising which is geared toward making us believe we can buy our happiness . The young man was arrested for stealing a pair of shoes. All of the convicts were arrested for crimes of poverty, which is an accident of birth.

Who or what influences your most recent work?

My recent works are an attempt to understand simplicity and minimalism.

Why do you think art is so necessary?

Art expands the soul, it creates bridges between people and gives voice to ideas.

Talk about the importance of design in your work.

I come from an illustration and design background. You can see it clearly in The Choices series which are more like magazine pages than my recent works.

What has been your favorite response to Choices 5?

“Rad”

How do feel your work translated onto a billboard?

I loved it as a billboard! I think it was well suited as it has all these little sections of compositions so it can be captured in a glimpse or examined at length.


If you would like to apply for this great program, the call to entry is available here

By AIGA Las Vegas
Published March 15, 2018