Melissa Dunn

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About the Artist

Melissa Dunn is a Memphis-based artist, musician and educator.  She came of age in the city’s music scene, splitting her time between playing in bands and making visual art. Music remains integral to her practice, although it’s now more of an inward-facing part of her studio life.  Her contemplative drawings and paintings are based in abstraction, bridging the world of her imagination with her lived experiences.  She’s received the Crosstown Artist Residency and a public art commission for Memphis International Airport. As a teaching artist dedicated to continuing-art education for adults, she has taught at Flicker Street Studios, studioELL and is a co-founder of ShapeShifter Art School. 

Artist Statement

Drawing is the foundation of my work. The source material for my paintings originates in drawings I make primarily out of my imagination in sketchbooks. I’m interested in what happens when lines and shapes made in the open range of drawing are reinterpreted in paint.