Melissa Dickenson

The Jail Cell project is a series of works that were the result of working within the space of a jail cell at Alter Space.  Located beneath Howard Street in San Francisco’s SOMA district, the jail cell is a relic left behind by a bondage shop that used to inhabit the art space. During my time behind bars, I explored the idea of confinement as a system and used the jail space as a mechanism for expanding the idea of how a my work exists. I maintainded my regular practice as a painterspecifically attention paid to the possibilities of structural support. This research focused on the physical and energetic characteristics of plastic film in direct relation to the form that supports it, i.e. the stretcher, wall, ceiling and/or floor of the jail cell.