Shannon McGill Senior Portfolio: Artist-Saul Melman

Bio:

Saul Melman (b. 1968, Baltimore, Maryland) makes sculptures and installations that function as mnestic events--works that feel like an event that has already occurred. For PS1's "Greater New York" exhibition, Melman gilded the building's giant, decrepit double furnace with gold leaf. (from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marina-cashdan/top-ten-most-promising-em_b_800299.html?ref=fb&src=sp)

I was also very interested to find out that Saul Melman first went to school in 1990 to get his BFA in studio arts, then went to medical school (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) and served a residency in a hospital (Cook County Hospital), then went back to school to get a masters in sculpture (Bard College), finally graduating for the last time in 2009.

Quotes

"... allows a space for the viewer to project their own imagination onto/into the work. This is what it means to me for a work to be 'open' to the viewer, rather than a work that is 'closed.' having a loose or playful process is important in regards to allowing this transformation to occur."

"Using my memory of an event is a frequent starting point for making work. It makes the work personal and work that is personal interests me. Through the process of excavating the memory, playing with it and then projecting it outwards for the viewer to experience, the concreteness/self-referential-ness of the initial memory gets transformed into something else, perhaps something that only has traces of the initial memory."

(both from an interview with the co-directors or Culture Push, Arturo Vidich and Aki Sasamoto)

I am very interested in what Saul Melman has to say about his work. He seems to think about the same personal factors that I think are so important in my work as well. His work has such a strong sense of unspoken communication and that is what attracts me to it and what I hope attracts others to my work. I am also attracted to the forms Malman uses in his instillations/sculptures. They aren't recognizable objects, but I seem to be relating to them as spaces that make me wonder about their creation and function. The materials the artist uses are intriguing in relationship to each title too, which makes me that much more intrigued by each piece and the thoughts behind it.