Artist Statement

Melissa Milton creates one-of-a-kind sculptures out of upcycled cardboard. She also paints with alcohol inks and acrylic paint on canvas and paper. 

The sculptures in this exhibit were created from used cardboard boxes. After spending a few years sculpting with clay, Melissa became inspired by the artwork of British cardboard sculptor James Lake and decided to try her own hand at it.  She has spent the last three years personally developing her own processes for creating 3D art from the cardboard boxes delivered to her doorstep. After two years of creating cardboard artwork which mimicked wood, she spent a few more months experimenting with additional processes for coloring the work. She accomplished this by alternating layers of alcohol ink, wood stains, and varnish with differing chemical compositions that won’t dissolve one another. The colorful results have enlivened her 3D artwork.

In addition to ongoing experimentation pushing the limits of what she can do with cardboard, Melissa enjoys painting with alcohol inks and acrylic paints on canvas and paper. The alcohol inks generally serve in an abstract manner in the background. Acrylic paints from the same color palette are then utilized to create expressionistic representational art in the foreground, usually via simplified geometric lines and/or pointillism.

 Melissa begins each art piece by asking a question. Such as “How would robots interact with animals if all the humans were gone?” or “How can a Lizard on a wall be a metaphor for a person meeting a challenge?” Melissa feels that as long as there are questions to ask, there will be artwork to make.