How Art Heals-WEB

99 43. Melanie Vote WWW.MELANIEVOTE.COM NEW YORK, USA Melanie was working on another project when the idea for Excavation of Life and Death came to her. “In 2011, approximately one year after my mother passed away, I had plans to bury and then excavate sculptural objects in the ground. While digging up the sculptures, the excavation site looked more and more like a shallow grave. I dropped down into the void and took a series of photos of myself there. I made a study of the piece, but it felt too dark to face at that time, so I put it away and continued to work on other pieces that were not as emotionally heavy. “Then, in 2013, while in residence in Liwa, Abu Dhabi, I saw a dead camel desiccating in the desert sand. The evidence of this transformation from living animal to skin and bones was so captivating that I had to paint it. Someone at the residency asked, “Would you like your picture taken with it?” I lay down in the sand to lie next to it. This led to a painting called Crossing [not shown]. After returning from the residency, and later that same year, I began to think about the relationship of that painting and my emotions toward death. This allowed me once again to revisit the original study for Excavation of Life and Death. “This project took two years to complete. I decided to add some levity by adding the twister mat pattern to the otherwise heavy topic of death and mortality. It was very large and definitely a physical painting, because I had to go up and down a ladder with my paint to bring it all together. I felt relieved when it was finally finished. It was a technically difficult painting to complete because it involved such an elaborate process, and the heavi- ness of the subject matter—and my resolve to address it—was a challenge for me.” In the end, it felt great to bring this project to its resolution and to put it behind me. Death is something that is ever present on my mind since the loss of my mother. Not in a paralyzing way, but in a motivational way, because it makes me aware of how short life is. And what a gift it is.