Statement and Bio
As a contemporary landscape painter, I am inspired by the transformative power of the natural world. My work finds expression through the observation and interpretation of nature. I begin in the field where I explore the environment through hiking, photography, sketching, and plein air painting. The physical act of working in nature generates new ideas and an appreciation of our natural resources. In the studio, I create a meditative space where I visualize the environment through the painting process. My landscapes are suffused with memory and the experience of being in nature.
Melanie Kozol received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts and her BFA from Connecticut College. Kozol is a recipient of an NEA Visual Artist Fellowship in painting and a Skowhegan scholarship for drawing at the New York Studio School. She has been awarded residencies at DNA, the Clipperton Project, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Solo shows include If a Tree Falls, 350 Bleecker Gallery: TreeHouse, Courthouse Gallery, Lake George Arts Project; Teatown Lake Reservation; and Weber Fine Arts. Her work has been included in exhibitions at The Painting Center, Galerie Protégé, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Project Room 88, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, Alexander Gallery, DFN and Weill Art Gallery. Kozol’s paintings were featured in the movies Damsels in Distress, 2011, and A Birders Guide to Everything, 2013. Her paintings are in numerous public and private collections including the Comptroller of the Currency, the Pfizer Corporation, Deutsche Bank and the Bellagio Hotel. Kozol is a visiting professor at Pratt Institute, and a faculty member at the School of the Arts, 92nd ST Y. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.