Melody Fortier

Over Time They Became Obsolete #2

archival print photograph in custom shadowbox assemblage. Acrylic painted millinery flowers, mica shards and flakes, wax candles. millinery netting gold pleated paper.

24″ x 18″ x 2″

2023

Much of my work expresses my relationship with the illusion of time and permanence and my spiritual connection to humanity. The garters in the photo were collected from old sewing boxes that I found in thrift stores. The persons who wore and saved them will be forever anonymous. To me these intimate treasures whisper of a life lived. My garter pieces are an homage to the evanescent nature of existence, both the bitter and the sweet. This work is second in a series of four.

Melody Fortier

For Naomi

acrylic and mica on wood, painted wood molding, glass dome, millinery netting/trim, found garter

10″ x 6″ x 2 1/4″

2023

For years I have been salvaging vintage hose garters from old sewing boxes. I am mesmerized by their lovely little shapes as well as their hidden history. This piece is one in an ongoing series, each enshrining an individual garter. Each garter has an anonymous past, something for our imaginations to ponder, To me they are dear and intimate objects to be treasured. I dedicated each piece to a person from my life who has passed on, whose own old garters are now lost to time. This piece is for Naomi.

Melody Fortier

Gilding The Forest Floor

gilded paper clay casts, embellished wood boxes, hand-assembled table, velvet, found sycamore branches

69″ x 43″ x 21″

2024

This piece is a tribute to our surrounding New England woodlands. Each box contains a gilded, paper clay cast of objects I collected from the forest floor (nuts, pinecones, leaves and the like). The fallen sycamore branches were gathered from those same woods. Sycamore was chosen as it symbolizes resilience and protection.

https://melodyfortier.crevado.com

Melody Fortier

Sacred Cadence of Decay and Genesis

Inspired by: Henry George Todd, Study of Strawberries

watercolor paint and watercolor pencil on acid free cold pressed paper

28″ x 22″ (unframed) 29″ x 23″ (framed)

2024

My painting is a celebration of the rhythm, the cadence if you will, of the life process. Desiccation and decay coexist along side the promise of regeneration that resides in the dried kernels. For me this sacred design of nature is beyond miraculous, I am an avid gardener and my gardens are my sanctuary. I chose to paint a single cob, floating, perhaps ascending, as a nod to the mystery, the power and the divine that is interwoven into this cycle. We cannot exist without it.

/Artist Melody Fortier