Opening reception for installation at Creative Arts Workshop this Friday evening

Creative Arts Workshop Hilles Gallery
80 Audubon St., New Haven, (203) 562-4927
Melanie Rose Peterson: Osculum
Aug. 6—31, 2010
Opening reception: Fri., Aug. 6, 5—7 p.m.

Press release

Creative Arts Workshop presents an installation by Boston-based artist Melanie Rose Peterson, titled Osculum, from Aug. 6—31, 2010. The installation is viewable from outside the CAW Hilles Gallery. An opening reception will be held on Friday, August 6, from 5—7 p.m.

Melanie Rose Peterson strives to create engaging spaces that break down the physical barrier between viewer and art. Her recent work explores biological and cellular forms -- particularly the forms of the human body - magnified to extreme scales. "I have always been fascinated by biological formations, from the patterns that develop on a cellular level to the shapes found in larger organisms," she says.

The site-specific installation Osculum employs plastic stretch wrap, inflatables, styrofoam peanuts and foam balls to create a monumental, mouth-like form inside the gallery, extending from the second floor balcony to the ground level windows. With these synthetic materials, Peterson evokes with startling accuracy the textures and colors of the human mouth's membranes and tongue. Says Peterson, "My goal is to transform the gallery into a place of exploration and reflection, one that transports the viewer into an imaginative state."

Melanie Rose Peterson (Boston, MA) is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. She is currently the manager of the Public Art/Sculpture Studio at Janet Echelman, Inc. in Brookline, Massachusetts. She has participated in numerous group exhibitions, including Creative Arts Workshop's juried exhibition Sky's the Limit, in which she was a Merit Recognition honoree. She is also an accomplished ice carver and has been awarded the coveted Golden Chainsaw in Boston's annual Chisels & Chainsaws Ice Carving Competition.