A classically-trained artist who works in oil, watercolor, metal point, fiber, sculpture, ceramics, fresco, and fresco restoration, portrays the depth of her understanding of nature, patterns and illumination, the human spirit, her connection to the environment, and her Buddhist practices.
Melissa Parhm | Artist Statement
Upturned Roots, Silverpoint on Prepared Panels, 2018-2019
Upturned Roots is inspired by a tree in Glen Ellen – Kenwood I’ve been drawn to – especially the roots. After the 2017 fires, I searched and found it still intact. I saw the world in the tree, the concept of pareidolia.
I begin by preparing the panels in order to create a foundation for the silver. Building up many layers of luminous ground enables the interplay of light with the silver, creating a three-dimensional effect. The sun’s rays shifting on the panel’s surface results in an image that is ever-changing. New forms emerge and dissolve, like the forms I see in this tree’s roots.
Drawing with silver is sustainable and connects me to the lineage of artists I’m influenced by who worked in silverpoint in the ages before graphite was discovered and mined. Today as I am writing this, the fires are again raging in Napa. Again, I go into my studio, the elements, in order to honor them. They are all we have; they are the matter we are made of.
Upturned Roots was selected by the de Young Museum of Art for the 2020-2021 exhibition, On the Edge #565 deyoungopenexhibit@famsf.org
http://www.melissaparhmfineart.com 415-377-7946 mparhm@gmail.com
http://www.melissaparhmfineart.com
415-377-7946
Melissa Parhm | About the Artist Classically trained in the United States and Europe, Melissa enjoys experimentation and seeks to forge connections between classical and contemporary approaches to art-making. As an active member of the art community, she exhibits her work locally including at the de Young Museum, in 2020-2021, The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, and The Sebastopol Center for the Arts, and the Throckmorton Theater as a part of the Tuesday Art Walks in Mill Valley 2022. She teaches art at private elementary schools and art centers in the Bay Area. You may find her offering a community event through Once Around at the Mill Valley Lumber Yard at the Maker’s Mart. She is currently enrolled in the Interreligious Chaplaincy program at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Ca. Melissa’s body of work is filled with a devotional reverence for nature with a special emphasis on studying the effects of light.
Oil Paint, Watercolor, Drawing, Prints and Printmaking, Mixed Media, Sculpture, Fiber
