Melinda Laz
“Printmaking is an often unpredictable process that requires both right and left brain thinking, and challenges even the well-planned project with its dangerous moments of uncertainty. With all its equipment, mess and exhaustive clean-up many people ask me why I make prints. As artist Judy Pfaff once said, "There are angels in the press," to explain the phenomenon that occurs when the paper is first lifted off the plate revealing an exquisite and singular work of art created by the partnership between man and machine. I am interested in the concepts of roots and foundations; passages and time; memory and recollection. Of great and continued interest to me are maps and how mapping relates to space, time, place and history. How does where we come from influence where we are going? What are the stories or myths that transcend time and history? What do our surroundings say to us or about us?”
Melinda Laz is a printmaker who draws inspiration from a multitude of eclectic sources including aerial images, vintage family photographs,wallpaper and fabric design. Raised in New York State, Melinda has lived in various parts of the country and now calls Denver home. She holds a BFA in printmaking from Washington University in St. Louis, MO and a MA in Arts Management from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A former member of Denver’s EDGE Gallery (a longtime artist cooperative), Melinda has mounted several critically acclaimed and reviewed solo exhibitions in and around Denver, and has appeared in numerous national juried shows and small group shows including recent exhibitions at Susan Hensel Gallery (Minneapolis, MN), the Dairy Center Gallery (Boulder), Truman State University (Kirksville, MO), and the University of New Mexico (Las Cruces). In addition to her solo work, Melinda also exhibits collaborative bodies of work created with other artists, of which she has two collaborations currently in progress.
Selected Exhibitions
Process/Vision/Print (Invitational), O’Sullivan Art Gallery, Regis University, Denver, CO2008
A Catalog of Lovely Things (Part 2), NEXT Gallery (2-woman show with A. Bailey), Denver, CO 2008
Views from Above, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO (Solo) 2008
Collaborations (Invitational), Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, CO 2007
My Favorite Things (Invitational), East End Applied Arts, Aurora, CO2007
A Catalog of Lovely Things (2-woman show with A. Bailey), Susan Hensel Gallery, Minneapolis, MN2007
Traditions & Transitions ( with J. Lybrook & T. Haberkorn), The Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO2007
Domesticated (invitational group show), East End Applied Arts, Aurora, CO 2007
Views from Above, EDGE Gallery, Denver, CO (Solo)2007
Impact: 20 Years! (Invitational in celebration of 20th Anniversary), Art Students League, Denver, CO 2007
Edge va a Mexico (Invitational), Centro Cultural Casa Borda, Taxco, Mexico 2006
16th Annual National Art Competition: Small Group Format (Invitational), Truman State University, Kirksville, MO 2006
Family Portraits, invitational organized by Art Management Assoc., Children’s Hospital, Denver, CO2005
Selected Awards
Finalist, Denver International Airport Emerging Artists Public Art Program (with C. Chauvin), Denver, CO 2008
Honorable Mention, 15th National Art Exhibition, Northern Colo. Artist Assoc, Lincoln Ctr, Ft. Collins, CO 2006
Merit Award, 16th Annual National Art Competition, Truman State Univ., Kirksville, MO2006
Purchase Award, Regional Exhibition, University Art Gallery, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces 2005
Award for Artistic Excellence, Englewood Arts National, Museum of Outdoor Arts, Englewood, CO 2005
Selected Publications
MacMillan, Kyle, “Two artists collaborate on “Lovely Things,” Denver Post, May 2, 2008.
“Artists Register Monthly, January 2008”, artistsregister.com/blog, January 4, 2008.
MacMillian, Kyle, “No gimmicks – just inspired printmaking,” Denver Post, August 24, 2007.
Chandler, Mary Voelz, “American Print,” Rocky Mountain News, August 17, 2007.
Chandler, Mary Voelz, “Collections/Selections I, and Views from Above,” Rocky Mountain News, May 11, 2007.
“Hooray for Culture!” Editor’s picks, ThisWeekinDenver.com, online e-newsletter, April 23, 2007.
Leslie Powell Gallery, Oklahoma: Centerfold Exhibition Catalog, Leslie Powell Gallery, Lawton, OK, February 2007.
Printmaking Currents: 25th Anniversary National Juried Show Cat., Print Arts Northwest, Portland, OR, December 2006.
Paglia, Michael, “Edge Gallery,” Westword, June 15, 2006.
