Melissa Dickenson’s work explores the intersection of material, memory, and place through abstract landscapes that emerge directly from the earth. Gathering composition, color, textures, and emotional impressions from her environment, she collects raw materials such as soil, sand, charcoal, and rock to create her own paint. These earth-based elements are often combined with synthetic pigments to evoke the still, dreamlike quality of memory. Her compositions exude an open presence, uninhibited by narrative or figure, inviting viewers to step into the work and encounter it on their own terms. The materials Dickenson uses are physical remnants of the land, transforming each painting into both a portrait of place and a tactile record of time and experience.
Rooted in a deep reverence for the natural world and a sensory, embodied approach to making, Dickenson’s process begins well before she enters the studio. Guided by the feeling of a place; its light, landforms, and emotional resonance — she translates these impressions through intuitive gestures: pouring, layering, and wiping away paint until it settles into its final shape. In doing so, she transforms memory into form, allowing the landscape to reemerge as a physical echo on the surface of the canvas. While often identified as a painter, her practice utilizes photography, drawing, sculpture, and site-specific research, forming a multidisciplinary and materially rich exploration of landscape. Her work opens a contemplative space where earth, body, and memory converge into an invitation to witness, remember, and feel.
Melissa Dickenson in her San Francisco studio