MFA Thesis Exhibition 2022: Merissa Mann

Merissa Mann

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My work straddles the line between the beautiful and abject, investigating the dialectic quality of the erotic and the horrific. I’m concerned with re-examining our relationship with the natural world and other species, using imagination and non-didactic thinking to challenge the hierarchical systems which privilege humans over other species. Specifically, I’m interested in how the construction of desire influences human patterns of consumption. Across various mediums, I utilize the seductive quality of beauty to entice the viewer into contending with the difficulty of our current ecological reality. My biomorphic gouache paintings highlight our shared connection to nature through the visual confabulation of analogous structures across different flora and fauna. Internal organs mimic the shapes and colors of undersea creatures while mushrooms glisten like gangrenous blisters. Expanding beyond the medium of painting, my staged photographs and multi-media soft sculptures focus on the illegal trafficking and maiming of endangered species vis-a-vis camp aesthetics and a critical sense of humor. The sensual glamour of the materials stands in contrast to the brutal subject matter, at once appealing and repellent. Anthropomorphic costumes blur the distinction between female and fish, comingling the formal characteristics of the two. My latest ecofeminist performances explore the parallels between women and animals’ reproductive rights, both of which are threatened by patriarchal hegemonic systems of consumption and control.

Gallery Entrance, Red Curtain

Next on the List: Bottarga, Installation, Fabric, Hooks, Fishing Wire, Assorted Materials, 2022

No Birds Were Harmed in the Making/ Ode to Harriet Hemenway, 77” x 27” x 27”, fabric, rattan, stuffing, reed, caning, paper, leather, assorted materials, 2021

For Our Fins, 132”x 18” x 38”, Fabric, metal, polyfill, assorted materials, 2021

Smuggled, Installation, Assorted Materials, 2022 *Back View of Trunk

Paintings (From Left to Right):

Red Meat, 21 ½” x 30 ¾” framed (18” x 24”), Gouache on Paper, 2020

Substrate, 27.5” x 35” framed, Gouache and Ink on Paper, 2021

Sunday Swell, 46” x 54” framed, Gouache on Paper, 2022

Mucosal, 49” x 46” framed, Gouache and Acrylic on Paper, 2021

From Left to Right:

Next on the List: Bottarga, Installation, Fabric, Hooks, Fishing Wire, Assorted Materials, 2022

Smuggled, Installation, Assorted Materials, 2022 *Front View

No Birds Were Harmed in the Making/ Ode to Harriet Hemenway, 77” x 27” x 27”, fabric, rattan, stuffing, reed, caning, paper, leather, assorted materials, 2021

For Our Fins, 132”x 18” x 38”, Fabric, metal, polyfill, assorted materials, 2021

Paintings (From Left to Right):

Red Meat, 21 ½” x 30 ¾” framed (18” x 24”), Gouache on Paper, 2020

Substrate, 27.5” x 35” framed, Gouache and Ink on Paper, 2021

Symbiotes, 48” x 51” framed, Gouache and Ink on Paper, 2021

Installation Documentation, Artist Adjusting Shark

Custom Vinyl Text on Floor, Detail Shot of No Birds Were Harmed in the Making/ Ode to Harriet Hemenway

Back Cage Bustle, Detail Shot of No Birds Were Harmed in the Making/ Ode to Harriet Hemenway

Symbiotes, 48” x 51” framed, Gouache and Ink on Paper, 2021

Mucosal, 49” x 46” framed, Gouache and Acrylic on Paper, 2021

Fascia Fungi, 36” x 51” framed, Gouache and Ink on Paper, 2021

Detail of Next on the List: Bottarga