About me
artist statement
My artwork is a personal display of vulnerable emotions. Figures and forms show themselves authentically. Beyond their personas they stand in true form to be observed. For the viewer they act as mirrors for self reflection. My art is timeless, and places the viewer in places no one can remember, places that have not yet been, they act as puzzles leading to the future.
I am a multi disciplinary artist creating my visions in textiles, sculpture, and acrylic paintings. I am self taught and have been a full time artist the past 11 years.
I explore my own spiritual practice through mask making; this is further enforced through wearing and performing in them. I create video installations of myself with the masks to be projected for live music performances
Since 2021 I have expanded my understanding of texture and shape creating handmade rugs and textiles. My designs are informed by my experiences painting and my love for pattern and abstraction.
Each new medium I work with informs my process, weaving and connecting each new idea into all of my mediums. This in turn expands my iconography and purpose.
Here are some interviews to learn more
Fiber Art Takes Two, Friday Feature live interview
Here is a video I made in 2020 about me in my studio for a Open studio event, you can learn a little bit about me and my process, inspiration, life
MORE ABOUT ME
I am a full time artist and mother of 3 teenage kids. I started painting In 2013 and have been full time since 2014. I create everyday and have created and sold over 1500 pieces of art. I live in and am from Portland, OR. I share a home studio, a converted church building, with my partner who is also an artist, Jesse Reno. We paint, inspire, and support each other daily. I am inspired by antiques and vintages items, nature, music and everyday life. I play keyboard and sign in my band called soft memory.
artist bio
Melissa Monroe is a self-taught multidisciplinary artist based in Portland, Oregon, known for her playful and expressive artwork. Since beginning her artistic journey in 2013, she has immersed herself in painting, textiles, and sculpture—creating work that explores vulnerability, transformation, and self-reflection. In 2021, she began creating handmade rugs, quickly becoming an innovator in the tufting technique by blending painterly abstraction with fiber-based work and sculpture. Her spiritual and performative practices also extend into mask-making and video installations. Melissa’s work has been exhibited widely in galleries and art fairs across the U.S., including exhibitions at Brassworks Gallery in Portland, Hey There Projects in Joshua Tree and Mortal Machine, New Orleans as well as showing at the Seattle Art Fair and Scope Art Fair in Miami.