Melina Finkelstein

BIO-
Melina Finkelstein is a non-objective painter, textile artist and designer who paints bold patterns on wood and fabric, weaves tapestries on make-shift weaving frames and collaborates with textile producers to make heritage one-of-a-kind custom rugs and tapestries. Melina established herself as a leading Bay Area textile designer as the co-founder of Peace Industry which closed in 2018. Casa Muñiz Design is Melina’s solo brand venture and marks her reemergence as a designer and artist.

STATEMENT-
I start with a graphite grid- whether I’m starting a painting or a tapestry I always start with a grid drawn with a pencil. The grid is my foundation. It is the structure underneath the matrix that calls me in to explore the cosmos and dimensions of time, space, and reality. I invite the energy of chance by selecting ratios within the grid and drawing lines based on those choices. The ratio is then repeated until the grid is fully activated. When I start painting in the shapes I use the color to find new patterns that begin emerging. When I am not in the mood to build a pattern on a grid I paint flowers or colorful piles of shapes that look like playground structures or dream machines. A list of subjects and themes both past and present: bright and pastel colors, club culture and fashion, modernist and Art Deco shapes and forms, modern architecture, vintage fabric, shiny and metallic textures, abundance, death, obsession, joy, innocence, pattern, fashion, flowers, stripes, grids