Mel Davis is an artist based in Berkeley,California,where she lives and works. She grewup in Montreal and earned her BFA from Concordia University before moving to SanFrancisco to complete her MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute. Her works are held innumerous private and public collections, and she has been supported by grants andawards from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres duQuébec, and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation,among others.
Mel Davis's practice traverses the boundary between abstraction and figuration.Sheexcels at building multilayered linguistic systems on canvas-from color-field paintingto the introduction of botanical motifs-integrating intuition,memory,and arthistorical references into the spatial structure of the image.Her work often exploresthemes of "interior/exterior, "using repetition,collage,and gestural brushwork to create natural imagery akin to visual poetry, while interrogating issues ofspace,color, and form within painting itself.
Davis's recent solo exhibitions include shows at Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami (2024),and Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston (2023). Her work has also been featured inexhibitions at institutions such as the Slade School of Fine Art in London, the San Francisco Art Institute,and Honor Fraser Gallery in Los Angeles.