Bay of Angels 2004

Melissa Meyer’s painting, Bay of Angels, is pure joy, made with paint. Look at how the color is laid down— those ambery washes that soak into the canvas, stained and glowing, like a memory of light. Then comes the line, fluid and decisive, dances across the surface, building up depth, creating a sense of movement and play. I love how Meyer embraces the physical properties of the medium. The paint isn't overworked, it's allowed to drip and pool, to find its own way. There’s one spot, near the bottom, where a dark stroke just bleeds into the canvas, creating this hazy, ambiguous form. It’s like a little secret, a reminder that painting is as much about what you let happen as what you make happen. Meyer reminds me a little bit of Joan Mitchell, in the sense that both artists were fearless in their mark-making, and each believed in the power of color to evoke emotion. Meyer's paintings aren’t about answers; they are about possibility.