Melinda Laszczynski
I am a compulsive collector of things that have potential. My
studio is filled with materials I’m sure are magical—pink lumber,
holographic film, scraps of acrylic paint peeled from the inside
of jars. I’m partial to shiny stuff, bright colors, and absurd things
from the dollar store. Lately, I have been painting on found
lenticular prints in which the image changes as the viewer moves
around the painting, or reflective glitter film. Materials are added
to be simultaneously attractive and off-putting, creating tension
and contradiction. Thick acrylic, glitter, or collaged paint skins
are built up on and around the painting surface. I think of these
paintings as portals, tactile spaces that shift. My work often
becomes figurative by referencing the body or reflecting the
viewer. Overall, my studio practice is playful and unapologetically
girly. I am, however, a formalist at heart and invested in the
language of painting and the experience of looking.