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Artist Bio

Melanie Gatica (b. 2000 in Salinas, California) is a multidisciplinary artist with an emphasis in painting. She received her Bachelor's degree in Visual and Public Art from California State University Monterey Bay.

Artist Statement

​My work centers on mythmaking. I translate my memories, daydreams, and fragments of quotidian life into paintings that combine the ordinary and the glamorous. I often focus on the mundane, overlooked details of working-class life and portray them in a light that reveals their quiet, nostalgic beauty. I achieve this through elements of kitsch and other aesthetics often dismissed as lowbrow, drawing visual influence from pulp comics, pin-up posters, Catholic retablos, and retro films.

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Much of my practice is also about idealization. I construct figures and scenarios that serve as personal archetypes, drawn from my own desires as well as from the captivating qualities of people I’ve encountered. In this way, my paintings have become a blend of aspiration, memory and invention. Whether rooted in personal history, observation or fantasy, the throughline is always the same: to build myths out of the ordinary, to glamourize what is often dismissed, and to create images that carry both beauty and complexity.
 

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