Short and Sweet with Artist Kreh Mellick

We were fortunate enough to interview TRACHODON 4 artist Kreh Mellick for our Short and Sweet series. Kreh's portfolio of new drawings along with 3 short stories and 3 essays are available at a discount to Cheek Teeth Blog readers! Download the eBook for 99 cents using code GV78X or order the print edition for 25% off using code QVHHQGHT to support the arts and artisan culture.
 

Cheek Teeth: Your drawings manage to capture the whimsical and the sorrowful. What observations or experiences have you had in your own life that inform this fascination?

Kreh Mellick: I think I attribute some of this to my family's dark humor. When witnessing an accident--say, someone tripping--our first reaction unfortunately is laughter. If you're lucky, some of us catch ourselves long enough to ask if you're ok…between tearful hysterics. Perhaps this sounds only slightly dark, until your are the victim of such a reaction. Also, here are some phrases uttered by mothers and aunts, as charming threats: “I will rip your lips off” and “ I will pin your tits to the wall.” Normal in the household, but upon reflection they have a dark undertone. I think this served as a foundation for noticing and enjoying the darker moments.

CT: Your artwork featured in TRACHODON 4 was inspired by your time as an artist-in-residence at Oregon College of Art + Craft. Can you tell us how you experienced or studied the environment and culture there in order to make this body of work? Whether formal or informal, we're curious about your process in a new environment and the ways in which "place" and "story" start to seep into your mind, and eventually your drawings.

KM: One of the wonderful benefits of residencies is travel! As an artist, it is not always easy to get to new places. Oregon College of Art + Craft provided me with a beautiful studio a place to live, a stipend, and a bus pass! The bus pass was an unexpected bonus. Not only are Oregonian’s really sweet people…but the bus drivers--bus drivers!!--are really sweet people. Growing up in New Jersey and taking commuter rails, I was shocked and amazed. I continued to be broke and so I was holed up a majority of my time in the studio. When you are stranger, there are rarely distractions. But I left the studio and took the bus downtown to see music, of which there is abundance, drink coffee (also in abundance), and eat delicious food.

While I explore cities or new places, I think there is always an opportunity to discover small histories or pick up on regional trends and I tend to romanticize all of these attributes. I think I create what is probably over-elaborated stories based on small artifacts or pieces of what could be fictional information. Everything in Oregon is massive, a land of giants, and being among those massive moss covered trees, Oregon felt like a fairy tale and I think it is easy to extrude that from the surroundings.

CT: Sometimes the characters in your drawings have incomplete bodies or impossible physical proportions, for example a missing limb or an over-sized head of hair. If you could alter your own human form for just one day--out of curiosity's sake--what would you experiment with and why?

KM: I love this question. And I suppose, my first curiosity would be...well...Am I excluded to human forms? I think that was implied, yes? Because I would love to swim or fly. So, I would turn into an animal or fish pretty quickly. Within my human form, the first thing that pops to mind is a beard: a huge, long, beautiful (white), beard. With a nest of birds inside.

CT: Who are some of your artistic influences (in any medium) and what do you find most striking about their work?

"Winged Fellow" by Kreh Mellick

KM: Edward Gorey, I had/have a deep love affair for his work. It is dark and poetic in the most lovely way. I just love character studies and I think he does this well in combination with snarky and eloquent texts. Henry Darger, Marcel Dzama, Jockum Nordstrom, Alice Neel, Henri Rousseau, Balthus…on and on. I adore outsider art and seeing the hand, unique and imperfect. I think many of the artists above and what makes perhaps any artwork wonderful is that they show no fear. A distinct voice is present. You can see influence and make references, but the interpretation is bold and knocks the wind out of you upon first interaction. Honesty. I should also sat these artists above are primarily painters. Not that I do not adore sculpture (Louise Bourgeois!), but they are my heroes!

CT: If you could live in Oregon in a timeless era such as the one invoked by your artwork, would you rather have a life as "The Woodcutter," "The Hiker," or "Winged Fellow" as featured in TRACHODON 4 and why?

KM: I would be the woodcutter’s sweetheart and bake him pies and tell him stories when he returned home from work. Or I would be the hiker and walk along that fat coast up and down. Humming.