July 2022: Melissa Melero-Moose

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Melissa Melero-Moose

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THE ART

The layered acrylic constructions of Melissa Melero-Moose’s paintings preserve a cultural landscape. Upon plastic drop clothes draped across the floors of her studio, she collects elements found in nature, composes them in a silent language of geometry and symbolism, and then embeds them in a coating which acts like a museum vitrine, allowing us to peer into these layers and discover the traditions of her peoples and her own personal history. The selection of organic media — willows, tules, cattails, and pine nuts — all refer to the culture of the Paiute people’s food and resources, while the impression of these earthly items, geometrically arranged and presented nebula-like color palettes, evokes a solitary effort of mapping galaxies.

Such are the linear works from the Basket Series, which radiate the intended indigenous basket making and beading references. However, these works, when exhibited closely together on a wall, seem like swatches of plowed earth as seen from a plane window, flattened, and communicating ancient languages to the sky.  In these awesome moments the works seem futuristic.  The transformation of earthly media into this sort of social binary code is stunning.

Burden Basket with Pine Nuts, 2018
Mixed media with pine nuts on canvas, 30″ x 40″
Private collection

And while the artist recognizes her work as environmentally conscious, so too is the artist conscious of the work needed to create opportunities in bringing public visibility and awareness of contemporary native artists. Whether serving as a former commissioner on the City of Sparks Arts and Culture Advisory Committee, as a governor-appointed board member of the Nevada Arts Council, or as one of the only 25 national recipients of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant , Melissa identifies that creative visibility often requires institutional recognition.  In efforts to develop native inclusion and accessibility in high-profile exhibitions and catalog opportunities, she founded the Great Basin Native Artists, a collective of Indigenous artists living in, or originally from, the Great Basin areas of Nevada, California, Southern Oregon, Southern Idaho, and Utah.

These efforts in creating layers of local, state, and national institutional permeance of indigenous voice and visibility are akin to the several finishing coats of acrylic brushed on her own paintings in efforts to preserve her culture.

Inheritance: Basketry and Art of the Great Basin, the most recent exhibition curated by Melissa Melero-Moose, is currently on display through September 30, 2022 at the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum in Carson City and displays pieces by invited artists from the Great Basin Native Artists collective, the Great Basin Native Basket Weavers Association, and the permanent collection of the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum.

Among the contemporary artists featured in this exhibition are Ben Aleck, Leah Brady, Loretta Burden, Rebecca Eagle, Sandra Eagle, Karma Henry, Micqaela Jones, Everett Pikyavit, Roger Salas, and Tanaya Winder.

The artist shares the following poem, included in the exhibition. Melissa shares, “It has everything to do with why I create and do what I do.”

Being

By Tanaya Winder

Wake up, greet the sun, and pray.

Burn cedar, sweet grass, sage—

sacred herbs to honor the lives we’ve been given,

for we have been gifted these ways since the

beginning of time.

Remember, when you step into the arena of your life,

think about those who stand beside you, next to, and with you.

Your ancestors are always in your corner, along with your people.

When we enter this world, we are born hungry,

our spirits long for us to live out our traditions

that have been passed down for generations.

Prayer, ceremony, dance, language—our ways of being.

Never forget you were put on this earth for a

reason—honor your ancestors.

Be a good relative.

For more information on Melissa Melero-Moose, please visit her website.

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