Artist Lecture: Melissa Dean "Consumed"

I attended the artist lecture by Melissa Dean on January 22nd at 4:30. Melissa discussed the work she had on display as well as work she had done previously. She explained a little about where the concepts for her work come from and how they have developed over time. I found Melissa's work interesting in its process. The way she uses everyday consumer products to establish a form of art that strips away the original meaning of the object used is in some way reflective of the world of art itself. In the process of creating a work of art many artists start with an idea that revolves around something such as nature, emotional states, material objects, etc. Those ideas are then tweaked, transformed, manipulated and so on until the work takes on a life of its own. Melissa Dean's work starts from consumer products, which we all use everyday but yet the work that comes from that starting point alludes to something more than simple product display. While the work is being molded, twisted, manipulated, etc it begins to take on new meaning, which comes from the process itself more than anything. Melissa herself did not seem to be a hundred percent sure as to what her work was supposed to represent past the initial concept. I believe that this can be true of most artist because it is often the process in which a work of art is made that gives it some of its meaning so sometimes even the artist themselves can still be trying to understand the final outcome.
I found Melissa Dean's work both aesthetically pleasing in its layout as well as mentally stimulating. She creates her work through layers so visually there are multiple layers for the eye to explore but at the same time her work represents multiple layers of meaning that may be different for every viewer.