- Aug 12

Melonie Mulkey

Melonie Mulkey is a photographer who has exhibited mostly in the Midwestern United States, especially in Indiana and Colorado as well as shown in New York and Rome. Her most recent exhibitions have been with the South Bend Museum of Art, Midwest Museum of American Art, as well as at the University of Notre Dame, all in Indiana. To date, Melonie has participated in almost 50 exhibitions since 2010. She has co-curated several exhibitions in Indiana and is a noted lecturer who has engaged in speaking engagements at the University of Notre Dame and South Bend Museum of Art. Notable publications include features in Manifest International Photography Annual, Contemporary Photography International Exhibition Catalog at CICA Museum, and Studio Visit Magazine: Volume Forty Two.

The audience should take note the interiors are not real and are in fact constructed miniature models hand crafted by Melonie herself. Melonie's photography focuses on interior spaces with a cinematic approach with vivid details of shadows and light. Some of the interiors contain staged theatrical colored lighting while other photographs focus on tall shadows of objects and windows overtaking a room, similar to staged scenes in films before the 1950’s. Usually containing a depth of field, some areas in the works are in focus while other areas appear more distant or even blurry.

Sometimes containing staged props such as set up of still lifes or damaged window blinds, the scenery always centers on residential interiors. Melanie usually focuses on interiors with wallpaper, creating an aged and vintage mood to the environment. The composition in the photographs are usually dictated by the shapes of large shadows turning the eye of the viewer in various sharp angles across the surface. Like a staged scene in a film the viewer can almost expect someone to enter the room as the eerie light and shadows invoke feelings of a grand entrance. These interiors have a character of their own, despite being devoid of figures for interaction, because of the direction of their focal point and selectivity of the subject. These are not just any interiors, the spaces are specifically and consistently constructed to reflect themes of melancholiness and retro aesthetics with their decorative wall paper, high ceilings, and vintage floorboards or carpet.

Exposed (pictured above) remains a photograph of paranormal qualities. The dark room contains a broken closet door and another door with deep red light emanating from the creases. As if a ghost, monster, or alien could be on the other side of the door, the viewer wonders in shock and horror as to what happens next only to realize the frozen moment. Exposed forces the audience to draw conclusions, perhaps even the closet door was broken as an escape route into an attic entrance. A mysterious photograph which plays on theatrics and the macabre.

Melonie Mulkey creates vivid photographs which convey deep inclinations towards various emotions and thoughts such as comfort, melancholiness, contemplation, fear, abnormality, and a sense of the paranormal. Using contrast to shape out detailed fixtures and furniture as well as selective choice to homely and retrofitted interiors, Melonie invites the viewer to contemplate our relationships with space as to their philosophical purpose within our lives. The photographs are just as enjoyable and deeply aesthetic as a robust natural landscape as these interiors communicate feelings of geometric confinement and solace as opposed to wide open, adventurous space. Melonie Mulkey teaches the audience to appreciate our surroundings and question the mystery lurking beyond the corners, beyond our initial senses.