DANA MELAMED | Duality of Matter - Opening Reception Thurs Feb 28, 6—8 PM

Dana Melamed, Engine 3.2, 2012
transparency film, cinefoil, paper, pencil shavings,
recycled industrial components, acrylic paint, ink,
charcoal, and wire on aluminum mesh
18 x 19 x 3 inches

DANA MELAMED | Duality of Matter

February 23 — April 13, 2013

Opening Reception Thurs Feb 28,  6—8 PM

Von Lintel Gallery is pleased to announce Duality of Matter, an exhibition of new work by Israeli artist Dana Melamed.

In her latest body of work, a series of wall-mounted sculptures, Melamed presents haunting urban landscapes that explore the struggle between humanity and nature. The abandoned environments are littered with the twisted metal of urban decay under violent skies. The intricate and three-dimensional crevices, caverns, stairwells, and passageways can be explored endlessly, yielding a new discovery with each viewing. Tangled vines threaten to envelope the crumbling architecture, reminding us of our tenuous hold on the constructed environment. While humans strive to build and to civilize, often causing harm in the name of progress, nature continues its perpetual cycle of renewal.

Detail

Melamed's work grows organically, building up from the surface of an irregular aluminum mesh. She combines found natural and manmade elements with drawings and sculpted architectural forms. Each piece is developed layer upon layer with paint and glue, agitated with razors to distort and obscure the images, and fused with a blowtorch. Melamed relates her aggressive techniques and the use of both mechanical and organic materials to the conflict between people and the environment. Her layered and repeated process of drawing, painting, building, carving, scraping, and burning also recalls the growth and subsequent destruction essential to our relationship with nature.