M. Lind

Instagram @melissahlind

 

 

Artist Statement 

I am a multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, painting, and mixed media installation. My practice examines neurodivergent cognition and the educational systems designed to measure and regulate how people think and learn.

In the United States, an estimated 50% of people ages 14–29 identify as neurodiverse, including minds labeled ADHD, dyslexic, autistic, bipolar (Forbes, 2025). Historically, these labels have often functioned to diagnose and separate rather than recognize different cognitive styles.

Drawing from personal experiences with autism, schizophrenia in my family, my work questions what is lost when institutions reward conformity over curiosity.

Through tangled aluminum wire sculptures, fluorescent abstract paintings, and installations such as Do Not Write on Desk, I transform classroom materials and visual metaphors of cognition into sculptural forms. By inviting chance, error, and material unpredictability, my work challenges the idea that intelligence must follow prescribed lines and invites interaction to build community with a shared experience. 

 

CV

 

EDUCATION

2024-            Associate of Fine Arts, projected graduation date 2026, University of New Mexico-Taos, NM

1999              Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Study Abroad, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

1999              Welding for Artists, Vancouver Technical, British Columbia, Canada

1996-2000     Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025              Paseo Popup at Hotel Willa, Nested Scales of Existence, Taos, NM

2025              Flamenco: A Taos Love Affair, Knight Gallery, Taos, NM

2024              Flamenco: A Taos Love Affair, The Wildflower Playhouse, Taos, NM

 

PUBLIC PROJECTS

2025              Solar Ice Cream Bus Billboard, Save Art Space, Brooklyn, NY

2025              Taos Banner Lampost Competition, Curated by the Taos Arts Council, Taos, NM   

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026              The Shape of Thinking, The Wildflower Playhouse Gallery, Taos, NM

2025              3 Women Wayfinding, The Stables Gallery, Taos, NM

2025              Transcendental Landscapes, The Wildflower Playhouse Gallery, Taos, NM

2025              Womxn, Curated by Petra Marguerite, Revolt Gallery, Taos, NM           

2025              Misbehaving Matters, UNM-Taos Annex,Taos, NM

2025              Millicent Rogers Miniature Show, Taos, NM

2024              See You Next Thursday, Curated by Paige Beeber, Online Art Auction House

2024              Welding for Artists, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM

2023              Silk Screened Stained Glass, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2024-2026       Chief Curator: The Wildflower Playhouse Gallery, Taos, NM

2012-               Owner: Dwelling Creative, Marketing Agency for architects, Taos, NM

2012-2025       Freelance photographer for The Taos News, Taos, NM

2002-2012       Owner: Land Ecology, Landscape Architecture private practice, Oakland, CA

2000-2003       Director: Oakland Bugs and Urban Gardens, non-profit community gardening, Oakland, CA

 

FACULTY

2022-2025       Chess Instructor, Arroyos Del Norte Elementary School, Taos, NM

2013                Teaching Assistant, Photography with Johnathan Blaustein, UNM-Taos, Taos, NM

2003-2004       Landscape Design Instructor, Building Education Center, Berkeley, CA

  

TALKS

2023                American Institute of Architects, Speaker for The Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT

2020                American Institute of Architects, Marketing that Educates and Inspires, Boston Chapter, online