In Melanie Daniel’s recent series “Echo Shield”, elements of military modernity become abstractions, unmoored in a sea of painterly chaos. Joyous expressive indulgence is undercut with sly sharp half-buried chunks of concrete or steel. Avoiding any clarity or one-sided accusations, Daniel nonetheless uses very specific symbols, some invented, that evoke fortification, surveillance, ancient architecture, and varied cultural allegiances. Manic marks dislodge the viewer, paralleling the omnipresent threat felt by residents of a land in constant upheaval. |
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“The paintings question how political demarcations drive historical causality.“
Melanie Daniel: “Echo Shield” at Asya Geisberg Gallery
In Melanie Daniel’s recent series “Echo Shield”, elements of military modernity become abstractions, unmoored in a sea of painterly chaos. Joyous expressive indulgence is undercut with sly sharp half-buried chunks of concrete or steel. Avoiding any clarity or one-sided accusations, Daniel nonetheless uses very specific symbols, some invented, that evoke fortification, surveillance, ancient architecture, and varied cultural allegiances. Manic marks dislodge the viewer, paralleling the omnipresent threat felt by residents of a land in constant upheaval. Always, Daniel’s restless painting leads the way, with marks that evoke calligraphy, Islamic decoration, Hebrew letters, fingerprints, and foliage run amok. Harmonious color lapses into suffocating density and suspicion. Bits of pattern may suggest camouflage or barbed wire, while conversely interweaving abstract lines go haywire. Daniel’s landscape is littered with shrapnel, roadblocks, and surveillance towers, underlining the anxiety of both the controlled and the controller.
Melanie Daniel, Flag, 2012. Oil on canvas, 51″ x 61″. Courtesy of Asya Geisberg Gallery and the artist.