Luam Melake

Luam Melake (American, born 1986) graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in Interdisciplinary Field Studies, majoring in Architecture and Art History in 2008. She has collaborated with public and private institutions on commissioned projects and has been artist in residence at leading institutions including the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts in Omaha and the Blachère Foundation in Apt, France. Melake lives and works in New York City.

"My art practice is focused on handwoven sculptures and functional furniture objects that operate as vehicles for contemplation and empathetic connection. I refer to the histories and methodologies of art, design, craft, architecture and industrial manufacturing. Materials are borrowed from each of these fields and combined into works that collapse these disciplines. Abandoning a hierarchical framework enables a more accurate consideration of how these fields inform each other and what they can communicate.

I am proposing new ways of seeing objects that are universally familiar—as textiles, furniture and commodities—by calling attention to how they can operate as a means of shaping experiences and communicating ideas and emotions. These proposals encourage users/viewers to more fully consider their relationship to space and the potential for objects to facilitate meaningful, socializing experiences." Luam Melake.