Melissa Dickenson’s works are comprised of raw canvas and organic pigments she collects from nature. Dickenson forages for earth pigment in the form of rocks and minerals while hiking, to create abstract landscapes that reflect the terrain in which they were found.

She processes the rocks and minerals in her studio, by hand with a mortar in pestle, to create her own paints. Each painting is a portrait of the place in which its pigments were derived.

Dickenson chooses the landscape format as a method of connecting of her body to material and place. Her work is rooted in honor and reverence for the fragile state of our Earth.