Born in 1987, Melissa Grisancich, a Melbourne-based artist was surrounded by religious imagery and icons growing up, and was taught the importance of recycling and reusing things from a young age. These details helped form the style and choice of materials in her work.
From an early age Melissa showed a strong aptitude for art; teaching herself to draw, make handmade objects, sew and paint. By 7 years old she could be found tinkering with a hammer and nails, creating objects from wood, which she would then paint and display in the family home. Melissa maintains a firm ethos of using found or recycled objects, materials and surfaces and insists on making her works entirely “by hand”.
Melissa’s style has been described as “…pop meets Frida Kahlo” and indeed like Kahlo, Melissa’s work is very personal and sometimes autobiographical. Her work reflects her interest in street art, iconography, symbolism, imagery from old children’s books, vintage ephemera and comics.
Melissa started exhibiting her works around Australia at 18 years of age and began her studio practice after college where she studied fine art and printmaking. Her first solo show was at the Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne, in 2011.