Melanie McLain is an artist based in New York and Mexico City whose work combines sculpture, architecture, and performance that explores the power structures created through design as it influences social dynamics, emotion, and behavior. Her work has been exhibited at institutions such as Queens Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park in New York, Parallel Vienna at Alte Post in Vienna, Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, and most recently in Mexico City at Un eStudio Sobre Revolución and Escuela De La Paz. Her work has been supported by awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship. She has been an artist-in-residence at Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Workspace Program, Shandaken: Storm King, and Fundación Casa Wabi.
While at Macdowell, she developed ideas for new sculptures and performances through reading, sketching, sewing, creating small models, and exploring movement patterns. This is a continuation of a body of work that was recently exhibited as Salon Acme in Mexico City, Mexico.
