Melissa H. Lind
Instagram @melissahlind
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a multidisciplinary experiential artist living in Taos, NM using photography, sculpture, and 2D art to explore neuroplasticity, resilience, and a celebration of contrast.
My artwork draws on organizing principles similar to the structure of neural networks and cosmic structures, a branching dendritic pattern that is driven by combining disparate elements, (structure versus freedom) like water on glass, followed by highly contrasting colors of spray paint that is washed off the surface, or spilled ink following wood grains. These tree-like forms are fluid and chaotic. The glass is structure; the water is freedom.
I am a prolific non-fiction reader following themes that often have to do with human evolution. I like to write this collected information (brain science, color theory, neuroplasticity, etc.) on canvases in a form that requires investigation both from me and the viewer. The data is obscured within the shapes and colors of the subject matter enticing a brain that likes to find its own conclusions. I do this because I have trouble with long term memory and these snapshots help me remember and act as a puzzle instead of a worksheet. I use the work to study my neurodivergence.
My latest projects use old windows, doors and architectural elements as canvases and sinks and dryers as subjects. As facets of domestic memory, these deconstructed elements of home are of keen interest because they are the building blocks that house humanity, the place where we shape the patterns of the brain from child to adult. I am exploring what methods are the most helpful for what brain. Structure versus freedom.
In the project, Nested Scales of Existence, I use layered multi-channel projections on glass, merging portrait photography with brain mapping imagery and James Webb telescope photographs on top of branching spray painted patterns. By inviting participants to interact with translucent surfaces, the work transforms into a meditation on our place within these interconnected micro/macro scales of existence (microbiology, human biology, astronomy) creating a space where individual identity and cosmic architecture collapse into shared experience with similar patterns; the kind of self-discovery that neurodivergence thrives within.
BIO
Melissa H. Lind (b. 1978, Alamosa, CO; she/her) was raised and educated in the American Southwest, circling the four corner areas of New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona.
As the director of a non-profit urban gardening program in Oakland CA, she designed and built gardens with community programming for kids, she then practiced as a licensed landscape architect for a decade before founding and directing a creative agency for architects and builders, DwellingCreative.com, in Taos NM.
Her architectural photos have been published in magazines and websites nationally and she was selected as a speaker for the American Institute of Architects Boston Chapter in 2021 and the national symposium in Salt Lake City in 2023. Her fine art photography was recently chosen by SaveArtSpace.org to represent New Mexico on a billboard in New York City in 2025.
Lind was part of a flamenco dance troupe that performed in Taos, Santa Fe and Albuquerque from 2013-2016 until she became a parent. She is still active with the northern New Mexico flamenco community, and their images are often part of her current work.
EDUCATION
2024- Associate of Fine Arts, projected graduation date 2026, University of New Mexico-Taos, NM
2023 Stain Glass Silk Screening, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM
2024 Welding for Artists, Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, NM
1999 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Study Abroad, University of British Columbia, Canada
1999 Welding for Artists, Vancouver Technical, British Columbia, Canada
1996-2000 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Flamenco: A Taos Love Affair, Knight Gallery, Taos, NM
2024 Flamenco: A Taos Love Affair, The Wildflower Playhouse, Taos, NM
PUBLIC PROJECT
2025 Solar Ice Cream Bus Billboard, Save Art Space, Brooklyn, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Womxn, Curated by Petra Marguerite, Revolt Gallery, Taos, NM
2025 Taos Banner Lampost Competition, Curated by the Taos Arts Council, 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
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2024 John Whitman: Recent Images, The Wildflower Playhouse Gallery, Taos, NM
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024- Chief Curator: The Wildflower Playhouse Gallery, Taos, NM
2012-2025 Freelance photographer for The Taos News
2012- Owner: Dwelling Creative, Marketing Agency for Architects and Builders, DwellingCreative.com, Taos, NM
2002-2012 Owner: Land Ecology, Landscape Architecture private practice, Native plants and restoration, Oakland, CA
2000-2003 Director: Oakland Bugs and Urban Gardens, non-profit community gardening organization, Oakland, CA
FACULTY
2022-2025 Chess Instructor, Arroyos Del Norte Elementary School, Taos NM
2013 Teaching Assistant, Photography with Johnathan Blaustein, UNM Taos
2003-2004 Landscape Design Instructor, Building Education Center, Berkeley CA
PERFORMANCES
2012-2015 Flamenco Dance Troupe, public performances in Taos, Espanola, and Santa Fe, NM
TALKS
2023 American Institute of Architects, Speaker for The Symposium for residential architecture, Salt Lake City, UT
2020 American Institute of Architects, Marketing that Educates and Inspires, Boston Chapter, online
BOARDS
2022-2025 Board of Directors, Twirl: Play-based learning non-profit, Taos NM
