Melissa Alley is a painter whose work emerges through states of heightened receptivity, where intuition, memory and presence converge. Working without predetermined imagery, she allows paintings to unfold through sustained attention, responding to subtle shifts of sensation rather than conscious composition.
Her practice draws on automatic drawing, mediumistic traditions, classical mesmerism and hypnosis, alongside a longstanding interest in the relationship between consciousness and image-making. Vintage photographs, handwritten signatures and places may act as catalysts, providing an initial point of connection from which the painting develops in unexpected directions beyond conscious intention. Mesmerised water gathered from specific locations has also become an important material within her work. Rather than illustrating the unseen, her paintings arise from working within it.
Alongside her painting practice, Alley creates site-specific performances using mesmerism, exploring its relationship to place, altered states and the emergence of the artwork.
Alley studied Fine Art Painting at Central Saint Martins and more recently completed the Turps Off-site Programme.
www.melissaalley.com
@melissaalley.artist
Cover image:
Auto Trance Portrait of a Household, Safehouse 1, Peckham of Caroline Fussell from her signature on the 1901 Census
Acrylic on wood 55 x 46 x 12 cms
