I am happy to announce I will be participating in the January 2017 group show 'Beach Party'
at MUSEO. Hope to see you there!
Join us for BEACH PARTY January 21 from 5 to 7 PM for the gala artists' reception to open the winter themed exhibit. Come in costume!
In preparation for this special exhibit, the gallery will be closed January 1-17, 2017.
The gallery is located at: 215 First Street, Langley, WA, 98260

Image by Aldo Rossi

Winged Migrations is an ongoing interactive multimedia project, inspired by pollinators such as bees, butterflies and birds, intended to stimulate a dialogue about the impact human habitation has upon nature, our relationship to our surroundings and issues about sustainability.
Thanks to an Artist Trust GAP grant awarded to me this year I will be continuing to develop this project in 2017 as an interactive installation involving bumble bees. Stay tuned.

The first part of this project has been the creation of installation work made from up-cycled materials and cut tyvek acting as visual narratives about our connection to the world.
The work is a direct response to current news issues such as the decline of pollinators due to pesticides and habitat destruction and an exploration of ways we can make a difference.The work is intended to be uplifting and to bring us back into an awareness of our connection with nature, its beauty and its ability to adapt, transform and for rebirth that is also a part of the natural cycles of destruction and recreation.The process of creating this work has grown into a fascination with this adaptability of nature to transform external influences including using what it has found in creative ways.
Using found and up-cycled materials such as thread, yarn and fabric in my exterior installations allows for interactive opportunities for animals such as birds to forage for nesting material.

                                                             A Hint of things to come.

'JAZZED' by MELISSA KOCHLocated in the evergreen tree, at S Willow Street and 46th Ave S
September 2, 2016 through December 16, 2017    
JAZZED, part of the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture’s 2016 Art Interruptions, is a mixed-media ephemeral installation that showcases butterfly imagery inspired by monarch butterflies, migratory insects that travel thousands of miles each year from Mexico to their summer breeding grounds in  North America and the Pacific Northwest.
I am very grateful to SDOT and The Office Of Arts and Culture for funding my project JAZZED which was part of the Greenway in Rainier Valley. I was fortunate to be selected this year to create this project for Art Interruptions situated in the Rainier Valley area of Seattle. My project used imagery inspired by butterflies as a metaphor about cultural diversity, cross pollination and the beat of life. Over 400 hand fabricated and weather proofed paper butterflies painted in colorful patterns were installed in an evergreen tree, fluttered onto nearby street signs and embellished the entry to a building on the Greenway bringing an uplifting mood to the neighborhood while acting as a gentle reminder of their fragility. Jazzed celebrates the importance of the butterfly as one of the earth's pollinators and their significance as a representation of transformation, metamorphosis and joy.
Working on public art commissions can bring interesting challenges and surprises requiring flexibility and adaptability of a scheme. An initial challenge for my project was to find a suitable location for my installation which had to have clearance from the City. Although I had intended to sight my main butterfly installation in a deciduous tree enabling the installation to have sweeping vistas and long branches to flutter onto and cascade down it ended up in an evergreen tree which posed its own difficulties.
Part of my original brief was to have some of the butterflies travel around the neighborhood although this was later edited out of my project. To my happy surprise some of the elder residents from the retirement home where my smaller installation had been situated had somehow managed to climb up within arms reach of my butterflies and had removed them so they could attach them onto their walkers, while some of the other butterflies took flight during the severe rain and winds we had in November. A good reminder to be careful what we wish for.

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