Ghosts

2016, 16 pages, 9" x 12" edition of 200

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Ghosts is made from a selection of images derived from plant specimen in Illinois State University's Vasey Herbarium, an archive of plants from across the globe, some dating to the 19th century. Each plant is a unique figure, collected by a particular person, bearing the trace of a place and moment in time. Through layered, intensified color, echoed shapes, and inclusion of the incidental marks and text describing and identifying the specimens, I wanted to highlight the forms of the plants and amplify the elegance of how they are organized, arranged, and described within the herbarium.

Melissa Oresky's work can be described as abstraction rooted in the logics of landscape. She has shown her work in painting, collage, and video nationally and internationally, with recent solo shows at the Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, and Elmhurst Art Museum, Elmhurst, Illinois. She received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and an MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Originally from Maryland, she is currently based in Normal, Illinois, where she is Associate Professor of painting and drawing at Illinois State University.