"scorned" by Melissa Furness

My work explores themes of struggle. Dense tangles of weeds and overgrowth serve as a metaphor for behaviors or personal attributes that we’d like to eliminate; however, like weeds in nature, they can be invasive, and if pulled out, often return. This cycle is represented by repeated elements, with grotesque figures playing out across dense thickets to suggest a questioning of human nature and identity. This individual piece considers the difficulty of crossing borders to exercise choice, while being constrained by a society and a past that scorns a choice that there was not control to make.

Artist's Bio:

Melissa Furness’ work has been most influenced by her experiences of travel, which have included artist’s residencies around the world. Furness has participated in numerous international exhibitions, and was invited to exhibit work at the 2016 Kochi-Muziris Biennial in Kerala, India through A.I.R. Gallery of New York. The artist was awarded a competitive fellowship to participate in the 2015 Biennial of the Americans, through which she resided in Mexico City as an Art Ambassador and exhibited a major project produced based on these experiences. She is an active member of the Artnauts Collective, through which she exhibits small works in places of contention throughout the world, including the DMZ Museum in South Korea and other locations in order to draw attention to significant political, social and historical issues. She has also been a member of A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn as well as Pink Progression through which she has exhibited major works that have addressed feminist and gender issues. Through her various residency experiences, the artist has exhibited major works in Berkeley, California at the Vizivarosi and Keki Galleries and The Drawing Room HU in Budapest, Hungary and developed site specific projects in Mexico, Ireland, Italy and China. Furness’ work has been represented in the past by galleries in New York, Seattle, Palm Springs and Zurich leading up to her current representation with K Contemporary Art and Kiechel Fine Art galleries. Her work has been featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions as well and international art fairs in Seoul , Zurich, Cologne, Los Angeles, and Aspen. She has been featured in New American Paintings, Studio Visit Magazine, SeeAllThis Magazine, Klassik Magazine International, 303 Magazine, 5280 Magazine and others. Furness is currently a Professor of Art Practices at the University of Colorado Denver.