The Return

Through painting, embroidery, and assemblage, Melinda Kiefer Santiago explores how identity is porous with the natural world and the hauntings of environmental change as an ecological return to what modernity has repressed (Figures 1-3). Source material includes photos and objects from New York woodlands and overgrown urban spaces as well as post-consumer detritus, textiles, and paint. Working in multiple media, she finds the processes inform each other, establishing a conversation rooted in eco somatic imagery. Through the combination of images and materials, she aims to offer experiences that consider a reciprocal relationship of ecology, myth, and perception. Combining figuration with abstraction, Kiefer Santiago builds layers to evince a range of influences such as surrealism, arte povera, and walks in the woods. Melinda Kiefer Santiago is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Queens, NY. She has exhibited her work in New York at Flux Factory, SEPTEMBER Gallery, ChaShaMa, Paradice Palase, Foxtrot Farm & Flowers, ABC No Rio, LABspace, A.I.R. Gallery, College of Staten Island, PS 122 Gallery among others with solo/two person shows at Flowers for All Occasions and HiLo Gallery. She creates installations and performances with her partner Christopher Santiago at venues such as The Wassaic Project, Flux Factory, Rosekill, HiLo, and ChaShaMa. Select residencies include Wave Hill Winter Workspace, Swale House, Ox Bow, Byrdcliffe, and ChaNorth. She earned her BS from Skidmore College, her Advanced Certificate in Art Education from Hofstra University, and her MFA from SUNY Purchase College. Melinda Kiefer Santiago collaborates with her partner Christopher Santiago and together they create paintings and performances that redefine myth. Christopher Santiago is a cultural anthropologist as well as an artist.