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Indepth Arts News:
"Myth / Memory Work by Melinda Steffy"
2011-01-05 until 2011-02-27
Inliquid at the Crane Hall
Philadelphia, PA,
USA United States of America
InLiquid presents Myth/Memory, recent work by artist Melinda Steffy in the Hall at the
Crane Arts Building. There will be an opening reception for the artist on Second Thursday, January 13, 2011 from
6 to 9 pm, and an additional reception on February 10, 2011 from 6 to 9pm. In this exhibition, memory, mythology, and alchemy intertwine with the simplicity of a nine-patch sewing sampler and
the belief that materials retain meaning from previous uses. Using symbolic materials such as the spice turmeric,
tarnished copper and burnt paper, Steffy constructs rhythmic visual compositions that draw on additional themes of
numerology, entropy, sustainability, domestic life, and improvisation. Painstaking processes of stitching, pinning,
cutting, and tearing result in loosely constructed grids, left rough and unfinished, with subtle variations and frequent
repetitions. The pieces are deliberately fragmentary, brief, to give the feeling of a nearly forgotten story or a fleeting
line of music.
Philadelphia artist Melinda Steffy received a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from The University of the Arts. Her
artwork has been on display at Fringe Wilmington, Sam Quinn Gallery, Villanova University, Finlandia University,
Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Lancaster Museum of Art, Micro Museum, Stamford Art Association, F.U.E.L.
Collection and George School, among others, and she was recently a prize-winner in the 29th annual Faber Birren Color
Award Show. She has taught art classes and workshops and previously worked as a freelance art reviewer, covering
exhibitions at major venues in the Philadelphia region. Additionally, Melinda’s artwork has taken her to other parts of the
world, such as South Africa, where she gave bead-working classes for small-business ventures and constructed a mural
with homeless adults, and Guatemala, where she studied Mayan back-strap loom weaving.
The public hours for the Crane Arts Building are noon – 6 pm, Wednesday – Sunday, and until 9 pm on the Second
Thursday of each month.
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