Melanie has been a multi-talented painter most of her life and graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Whitecliffe College of Art and Design. She will continue her studies and aim for her Masters' Degree.

She came from an artistically oriented family in New Orleans, Louisiana, (US); where her father had been an artist on Jackson Square during the 1950-1960's. Growing up she has also had the opportunity to study under the shadow of some New Orleans 'greats' such as the late artist, John Kamas.

She is a contemporary painter using dark, rich colors and utilizes digitized mixed media. Melanie particularly enjoys working with a very large canvas. You'll see this reflected in her Bobby Allen Series which was done in tribute to a well-known female impersonator during the 30's and 40's using the stage name Bobby Allen.

Her Gumbo Yaya Collection, (which continues the Bobby Allen theme) were the subjects of recent exhibitions, and have all sold. "Gumbo Ya-Ya" is a New Orleans Creole colloquialism that means "A Little Bit of Everything"; and exemplifies the passion of the time and place.

Her latest BFA Exhibition The Third Sex also contains a series of paintings called Interiors. These are a diversion from the figurative, and delight the eye with angles, color and shadows.

Artist Statement: My work is about Fantasy, Fetish and Hysteria. There are memories from childhood that are like tiny glimpses of a dream, only half remembered and distorted. These are the fantasies of our identity. Fetish is the physical proof of the fantasy and hysteria is the conflict between belief in the fantasy and the fantasy of the Real.

Melanie FerDon

Also visit: www.agalleryofartists.com

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© Melt Magazine 2003