Soft Slip: Melinda Laszczynski

“Melinda Laszczynski is partial to shiny stuff, bright colors, and absurd things from the dollar store. Most recently, she has been painting on found lenticular prints in which the image changes as the viewer moves around the painting, or reflective glitter film. Materials are added to be simultaneously attractive and off-putting to create tension and contradiction. Thick acrylic, glitter, or collaged paint skins are built up on and around the painting surface. Laszyznski thinks of these paintings as portals; tactile spaces that shift. Her paintings often become figurative by referencing the body or reflecting the viewer into the surface.

Melinda’s ceramics work is a natural extension of her paintings. Clay is a balance of alchemy and anticipation, a push and pull between manipulation and the (at times merciless) nature of the material. It holds onto that memory of manipulation, whether a touch of the hand or a glaze, a hazy but persistent layer until the end. It’s romantic, made of literal earth, fire, and minerals. When Laszczynski makes these sculptures, she thinks of cakes rising and falling, bodies pushing against one another, and new growth pushing through organic forms. Layers of texture and color spill out and fight for air. Overall, her studio practice is playful and tactile.”