melinda steffy

"Eyes on the Earth" exhibition at George School

2009-10-06T22:42:00.005-04:00

"The Seventh Day" and "Three Thousand Daughters" (2008) are part of George School's exhibition "Eyes on the Earth: Sustainability Through the Eyes of Artists." On display October 12 through November 26, 2009.

Third prize in annual Faber Birren Color Award Show

2009-10-06T22:21:00.007-04:00

"Song for the Morning" (2008) was awarded third prize in the 29th annual Faber Birren Color Award Show, hosted by the Stamford Art Association and juried by MoMA curator Paulina Pobocha. Show runs October 4 through November 5, 2009.

Article in Greenwich Time
Article in The Hour

Melinda Steffy in The Philadelphia Inqurier

2009-09-05T15:03:00.007-04:00

The Inquirer's Victoria Donohoe did a brief write-up of my show at Villanova University (Friday, September 4, 2009). Online here.

Excerpt:
"...there's a luxury of sensation and touch combined with intricate adjustments of single shapes or separate smaller objects ... in her seemingly casual reveries with dyed cloth, I sense what might be the rare giftedness of a phenomenal quilt maker."

Transmute IV - 4.5"x4.5" (10"x10" framed) copper, liver of sulfur

2009-09-05T14:38:00.002-04:00

Ode (Hestia Travels) - approx. 84"x60" burned paper, thread

2009-09-04T16:15:00.004-04:00

Installation shots at Villanova University Art Gallery

2009-09-04T15:58:00.003-04:00

A few images of my show, on display at Villanova University Art Gallery through October 4, 2009.

Melinda Steffy in Delaware Arts Info blog

2009-08-17T18:50:00.006-04:00

The Delaware Arts Info blog mentions both of my current shows in a post about Wilmington's August 14 openings: "More Artful Excitement in August" by Jessica Graae (Sunday, August 16, 2009).

Excerpt:
"...the marriage of music and art is a vibrant one. How wonderful to think a student or teacher might pause after a cello lesson to look at Sequence I-III..."

Melinda Steffy featured in Art on the Town brochure

2009-08-16T11:08:00.005-04:00

I am the featured artist in this month's "Art on the Town" brochure, produced by the city of Wilmington, DE. See page 2 for my bio and page 7 for show information.

Fabrik in the Philadelphia Inquirer

2009-07-22T09:21:00.007-04:00

My reusable produce bags were included in an Inquirer article about local tote bag makers on July 22, 2009. Online here.

"Totes Hold Their Own as Art" by Lindsay Warner

Excerpt:
"Melinda Steffy, 28, a local mixed-media artist, responded to the stiff competition by turning to the produce aisle. Her reusable mesh produce bags, designed to replace the flimsy plastic bags available in the fruit and vegetable section, are strictly business - and endlessly useful. Made of heavy starched tulle similar to the netting of a ballet dancer's tutu, her bags are fully functional and strong enough to hold heavy produce like apples and oranges, yet their see-through quality enables cashiers to easily scan the fruits' produce numbers."

http://fabrik.etsy.com

Press Release: Melinda Steffy at Villanova University Art Gallery

2009-07-21T21:11:00.007-04:00

"Remnants and Residual Memories"
August 21 - October 4, 2009
Artist reception Friday, September 11 from 5-7 pm
Villanova University Art Gallery, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Connelly Center, 2nd Floor, Villanova, PA 19085
http://artgallery.villanova.edu

For Immediate Release
For more information, contact Maryanne Erwin at 610-519-4612

Villanova, PA – Contemporary artist Melinda Steffy draws inspiration for her art from many sources, a recent one being the curious behavior of some penguins depicted in a documentary about Antarctica. In it, a flock of penguins is seen heading for the open water. On the way, part of the group turns back toward their nesting ground. Joining neither group, one lone bird chooses a third direction, waddling off toward distant mountains.

“I’m intrigued that these few birds set out on a solitary journey that goes against all penguin food, flock and mating survival instincts,” says the Philadelphia artist, whose thematic installation, ‘Remnants and Residual Memories’, opens August 17 at the Villanova University Art Gallery. “This anomaly fits with my ongoing interest in order versus chaos, structure against formlessness, while adding, at least seemingly, an element of free will.

For her upcoming Villanova exhibit, the artist is creating what she calls “a ‘memory room’ of painting/textile/objects” through which she seeks “to metaphorically reclaim memories before they disappear.” The work includes found objects, remnants, secondhand fabrics, family keepsakes, hand-made pigments, and house paints.

"I like the word ‘remnants’, says Steffy. “They’re fragments that you’re rescuing from a former life. What they were used for in that previous life is somehow being carried through. It’s not the end of the story.”

A free public reception to meet the artist will take place Friday, September 11, from 5 to 7 pm, in the art gallery on the Villanova campus. The exhibit, which is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts, the regional arts funding partnership of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, continues to October 3.

The exhibit is, in part, a look into the nature of her grandfather’s memory loss from Alzheimer’s disease. “While there was distortion and fading of material memory, abstractions of life seemed to still be there for him. He might not have specific memories, but he could recall the qualities of a person,” she notes. More broadly, Steffy sees her Villanova installation as comprising “rhythmic visual compositions that address abstract questions about memory and its loss, particles and the void around them, structure and formlessness, purpose and accident.”

Normally a backdrop in traditional installations, the gallery walls play an integral role in Steffy’s exhibits. “The most compelling installations cluster the artwork in groups and pay careful attention to the wall space between so that there is a feeling of breath and emptiness as well as connection and interrelation. The pieces themselves are deliberately fragmentary, brief, to give the feeling of a nearly forgotten story or a fleeting line of music,” says the artist, for whom music plays a central role in her art and life.

The materials of which the objects are made are as integral to the art as the objects themselves. “For me,” says Steffy, “untraditional or re-used materials carry with them meaning from their previous lives or original purposes, and so add conceptual complexity to artwork.” She cites as an example the house paint in her work ‘Remark’. Peeled from its surface, rather than attached to a wall, with a painstaking grid of unraveled canvas threads, the paint was cut into rough shapes and then loosely sewn together. “All of the house paint I use is left over from other people’s renovation projects, so it carries a connotation of home life and transformation, rather than the blankness of commercial artist paints.”

Other compositions include ‘Fable (Loss and Its Recovery)’, with more than 300 found barrettes on individual paper pieces stitched together by the artist; ‘Fugue (Grandmother’s Favorite)’, featuring ink drawings on paper hand made from 80-year-old sheet music, and ‘Aubade (Mnemosyne Sings)’, comprising nine five-foot-square canvas panels dyed vibrant yellow with turmeric.

To enhance the material meaning, Steffy makes her own dyes and pigments from plants, nuts and spices, which often have medicinal properties or applications beyond their common uses. The tediousness of the paint-making process, as with the stitching, sewing, papermaking, and other repetitive tasks, invests her even more deeply in her art. “The repetition and the monotony, even though I may cringe at them, become ritual and rhythm. They make me part of the meaning of my work and add elements of time and spirituality”

Steffy received her Master of Fine Arts degree in painting in 2006 from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She has given bead-working classes for small business ventures in South Africa and studied Mayan back-strap loom weaving in Guatemala. Her work has been exhibited at the Sam Quinn, Rosenwald-Wolf, F.U.E.L. Collection, and Highwire Galleries in Philadelphia, William Paterson University, MicroMuseum, The Music School of Delaware, the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts, and the Lancaster Museum of Art. Her mural, ‘In Remembrance’, hangs in the Tshwane Leadership Foundation in Pretoria, South Africa.

The Villanova University Art Gallery is open weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm. For weekend and extended hours, and other information, telephone the Art Gallery at (610) 519-4612. Selected works for Melinda Steffy’s exhibit may be previewed on the gallery’s website at http://artgallery.villanova.edu.

Event Advisory: Melinda Steffy at The Music School of Delaware

2009-07-21T20:58:00.008-04:00

"Vegetable/Mineral"
July 13 - September 14, 2009
Artist reception Friday, August 14 from 5-8 pm
The Music School of Delaware, 4101 Washington Street, Wilmington, DE 19802.

Featuring, mixed media paintings and 2-D metal works, Melinda Steffy’s artwork pulls in themes of geology, alchemy, entropy, molecular structure and improvisation, addressing broad questions of structure and formlessness, purpose and accident. Her experimental uses of materials create fluid, abstract forms with subtle patterns and unusual textures.

(10% of sales will be donated to the Music School.)

Fugue (Grandmother's Favorite) - 12"x12" handmade paper from 80-year-old sheet music, ink, canvas

2009-07-01T16:38:00.001-04:00

Aubade (Mnemosyne Sings) - 9 panels each 60"x60"; turmeric, canvas

2009-07-01T16:37:00.002-04:00

Introductions II (Venus Receives) - 9 panels each 4"x4"; liver of sulfur, copper

2009-07-01T16:36:00.005-04:00

Untitled (Solitary) - 52"x52" walnut stain, recycled paintings, latex house paint, canvas

2009-07-01T16:34:00.003-04:00

Translation - 14"x14" antique lace, latex house paint

2009-07-01T16:33:00.002-04:00

Remark - 35"x35" latex house paint, thread

2009-07-01T16:32:00.003-04:00

Residue I (Horizon) - 23"x35" burnt sheet metal, ash

2009-07-01T16:30:00.002-04:00

Introductions I (Mars Enters) - 9 panels each 4x4"; iron filings, canvas

2009-07-01T16:29:00.005-04:00

Fable (Loss and Its Recovery) - dimensions variable; over 300 found barrettes, paper, thread

2009-07-01T16:24:00.004-04:00

Fabrik on PW Style blog

2009-05-14T20:27:00.005-04:00

My reusable produce bags were included in Philadelphia Weekly's Style blog list of local Etsy vendors who make unique items. Online here.

Excerpt:
"Makes a good gift for: Those in need of packaging without the baggage of bad karma.
Why you need it: Melinda Steffy’s reusable produce bags are light and easily packed for grocery store visits. And since they’re made from clear tulle netting, there’s no confusion with which produce is in which bag."

http://fabrik.etsy.com

NURTUREart - artist registry

2009-05-08T13:38:00.007-04:00

Click here to see my artwork in NURTUREart's artist registry.

Julre on Examiner.com

2009-04-21T22:52:00.006-04:00

Laura Draper, the Philadelphia Arts and Crafts Examiner, posted a review of Julre and additional information about Fabrik and my artwork on her blog on Tuesday, April 21, 2009. Online here.

Excerpt:
"Sometimes the simplest crafts are the most beautiful. One unique bead and a length of black cord can make an exquisite necklace. A handful of chunky wood slices can become a chic bangle bracelet. The Julre Etsy store embraces this aesthetic, keeping things simple but making sure they stay pretty."

http://julre.etsy.com
http://fabrik.etsy.com

Fabrik on CBS3 news

2009-04-18T16:19:00.007-04:00

My reusable produce bags and vinyl snack sacks were featured on CBS3's Green Scene on Friday, April 17, 2009.
Video online here.
Article online here.

Excerpt:
"Melinda Steffy sells on Etsy, too. She was inspired by her farmer's market. 'It seems sort of strange to have this great produce that came from somewhere nearby, and I'm still sticking it in a plastic bag,' said Steffy ... 'Maybe I can't change the world, but what are the little pieces that I can do in my everyday life that are practical and easy and end up making a difference in the long term?'"

http://fabrik.etsy.com

Fabrik in Grid magazine

2009-04-18T16:10:00.006-04:00

My reusable produce bags were featured in the April 2009 edition of Grid magazine, bottom right corner of page 5. Online here.

Excerpt:
"Bring along these handy bags the next time you hit up your local farmers’ market or grocery store. The lightweight tulle fabric allows any salesperson to clearly see the produce and enables you to shop plastic and guilt-free."

http://fabrik.etsy.com