Red Lodge Clay Center – Short-Term Resident (AIA) 2019
Melba Price was born in Texas but grew up in Utah. She attended the University of Utah in Salt Lake City for her undergraduate degree and went on to pursue a MFA at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT.
She has exhibited nationally and has been the recipient of several grants and fellowships including, The Arts Midwest National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship, the Mcknight Foundation Fellowship, the Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship and Career Opportunity Grant, and has twice received the Bush Foundation Fellowship (1994,2002). Melba’s works is included in many public and private collections. She currently lives and works in St Paul, MN with her husband the artist Bruce Tapola.
Idea’s for a painting start with images collected from a variety of sources including, internet searches, found printed matter and personal photos. What sparks my interest in the source material can alternate wildly between the possibility of furthering research into technique to the mystery and poetry of the syntax,
Through rigorous editing and the slow thoughtful act of painting a unique personal connection is forged leaving imagination free to wander favoring subtle suggestions over ridged commentary.
These paintings are not simply pictorial images capably expressed on canvas or board but icons that represent the physical evidence of the maker they have no finite conclusion and are open to the viewers imagination. In order to realize their full potential, they are best seen in person, an activity not always suited to the age of the internet.