Melissa Kirk Art

About the artist: I have received my BA from Rowan University, in Glassboro, New Jersey with painting, and a minor in Art History in 2017. I will be studying at SACI, the Studio Arts College International for my MA in Art History beginning in 2017/2018. It is very important for me to capture things in the world and represent them as a painting. Therefore I make paintings that represent real places in my life in an abstract manor, by painting things in nature through geometric form and swift lines of color.

Outside of studio arts and art history, I truly enjoy working with students. In 2014 and 2015 I created a book promoting the success rate that the arts provide in schools in Philadelphia and South Jersey. I also taught painting classes at Erial Christian School in Erial, New Jersey which is an underfunded private school that does not have an art program In 2016 I traveled to India to teach students English and art. While there I saw how much joy teachers bring to students lives and realized that I will always have a passion to continue missionary and community work in underprivileged areas.


Artist Statement:
​Capturing landscapes, I use my pallet knife to mix colors straight onto the canvas. While scraping away at each form, I unearth mountains, seas, and fields. I use swift motion and brush strokes to allow amplified colors and texture to come alive on the surface. I separate the natural curves of landscapes through geometric forms and simplify my compositions into big blocks of shape with textured planes. Whether I am painting from timeless memories or with the earth in front of me, I provide the viewer with an image of nature transformed into abstract moments of paint.