melissa zexter

Melissa Zexter combines the slow and meditative process of hand-sewn embroidery with the technologically more immediate medium of photography. She uses an older art form, embroidery, refracted through a modern one, photography, to create structured objects that are embodiments of both fragmentation and focused concentration. Zexter hand stitches intricate puzzles using needle and thread over color and black and white photographs. From original colored textured drawings, the sewn patterns serve as webs and grids over the photographs, providing another dimension to the images. The embroidery creates a filtered experience, much the way emotions and personal history alter everyday perception.

Biography

Melissa Zexter holds a BFA in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in Photography from New York University/International Center of Photography; She is a mixed media artist and freelance photographer. She has exhibited throughout New York and New England, including shows at Kenise Barnes Fine Art, New York; Creiger Dane Gallery in Boston, Massachusetts; and the Bronx Museum of the Arts. Her work is in numerous collections including the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. She currently teaches photography at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York; and at the Dalton School in New York city.