About

contact: melissaacalderon{at}gmail{dot}com

Statement

I create conceptual work around themes exploring social and political landscapes; drawing upon historical and philosophical references of power, fragility and perception. Combining ritual and symbolic significance with materiality and process, my aim is to create a dialogue of concepts relating to history, memory, & personal experience.

Bio

Calderón has exhibited her work at El Museo del Barrio, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Queens Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park, The Portland Museum of Art, Pioneer Works, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Arsenal de la Puntilla and Galeria 20/20 in Puerto Rico, Art in Odd Places Festival, and SmackMellon among others. She is a PEPATIAN artist; a South Bronx-based organization dedicated to creating, producing and supporting contemporary multi-disciplinary art by Latino and Bronx-based artists founded by visual artist Pepon Osorio and dance/choreographer Merian Soto. Moreover, she continues to be an advocate and activist for conscious arts revitalization in the South Bronx. She has been included in such books as Frescos, 50 contemporary artists from Puerto Rico, Strange Material: Storytelling through Textile, and EMERGENCY INDEX VOL. 4 's annual performance publication. Born and bred in the Bronx, she is an Artist in Residence at the Andrew Freedman Home on Grand Concourse.