Seeing Oneself in Others from Melodie Provenzano

“Seeing Oneself in Others” began with the idea of painting other artists’ sculptures from direct observation, as a method of showing interest for other people and their creative expressions. I spent one on one time with each sculpture, giving rise to a series of large scale paintings, revealing interconnection and accentuating group harmony in the multiplicity of artistic materials and techniques. The body of work celebrates the diversity of creativity, various cultures and humanity as a whole. I found this approach a successful way to learn about other people and take my personal narrative out of the equation, while still being able to do what I love, which is to paint things, launching into a new experience of art from the springboard of traditional still life. In 2020 “Seeing Oneself in Others” opened to the public at the Nancy Margolis Gallery on the ground floor of West 25th Street in NYC, as an exhibition including sculptures by six artists hailing from different backgrounds, Jae Yong Kim (Seoul, South Korea), Matthew McCaslin (Bay Shore, NY), Shari Mendelson (Schenectady, NY), Michelle Segre (Tel-Aviv Yafo, Israel), Arthur Simms (District of Cross Roads, Saint Andrew, Jamaica), and Jeanne Tremel (Minneapolis, MN) The show also included the paintings I made from direct observation of each artist's sculpture. When considering bringing the paintings I had made for the NYC show to exhibit at the University School of Nashville in 2023, I thought it would be great to further the field of interconnection by adding paintings and drawings created by directly observing sculptures made by USN students, thus growing the show, shining a light on and bringing together the depictions of professional artists’ sculptures and students’ alike. Norman Fischer, a Zen teacher said, “Research shows us that the most important learning and accomplishments come not from genius individuals but from the synergy of people working together.” Future iterations of this exhibition may feature the previous paintings of professional and student sculptures alongside new observational work depicting art objects relevant to the local culture and community, thus growing the body of work and expanding group harmony. BIO Melodie Provenzano lives and works in the countryside near Nashville. After receiving a BFA from Parsons School of Design in 1996, Melodie freelanced in NYC for two decades painting window displays, showrooms and commissioned projects for fashion companies such as Saks 5th Avenue, Donna Karan, Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Chanel and Hermes. While doing commercial artwork, she sharpened her painting skills and developed her fine art. Melodie has exhibited in group shows at institutions including The Brattleboro Museum, VT; The Chelsea Art Museum, NYC; The Museum of Contemporary Art Long Island, NY; and has had solo shows at Lyons Wier Gallery, NYC; Goya Contemporary, Baltimore, MD; Carrie Secrist Gallery, Chicago, IL; and Nancy Margolis Gallery, NYC. Recently she had a retrospective exhibition entitled "Greatest hits" at Willow Oak Center for Arts and Learning, TN. Melodie also creates music and has six LPs released under the pseudonym of Connie Acher.