Melissa Rosenberg
My works tackle the relationship between life and death. I depict subjects such as animals, insects and growing botanicals, and typically place them in contrast with skeletal remains and organs. These subjects may be perceived as either living or dead. My rendering of oil paints can range from intense realism to blurred abstraction in order to portray a variety of themes accordingly. I often use deep, dark shades for a spatially abstract background, which enables the creation of a centrally focused composition of the desired subject.
This juxtaposition comes very naturally to my work as there are many exterior influences on my creative expression. Anatomy and biology have been of significant interest throughout my life, and I am no stranger to horror and gore. Much of this fascination lends itself to my aesthetic preferences and subject matter choices. After studying the specific bones or species, I am able to render the paint hyper realistically to attract interest in the work through meticulous detail. This also adds to the life-like texture and fragility of an insect, botanical, or animal. I play with sharp contrasts that glow from within the subject , such as the shine on a beetles wing, or glimmers on a beating heart. However, I have recently begun to experiment in abstraction, which I also find important to the concept of death since it’s the ultimate unknown, and we factually know very little about it. Many of my paintings involve more specified concepts such as animal testing, taxidermy, killing for human benefit, or the loss of a loved one. The goal of my work is to provide striking images that allow the viewer to understand a concept, and to use personal experience to interpret it.
By using the medium in various extents of realism, I allow my chosen subjects to portray a balance between life and death. In viewing the work, I hope to further allow the viewer to ponder a great unknown.
Contacts: melrosenberg9@gmail.com
Instagram: @drawingandwhatnot
