Melissa Yates - Artist
‘If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.’ - Edward Hopper
I create intuitive, processed based abstract art with an emphasis on experimentation and spontaneity. Paintings evolve organically through layers of gestural brushstrokes and expressive mark-making, where I search to balance impulsive and more deliberate visual language. The act of art making anchors me to the present moment where I feel simultaneously alive and at peace.
My art is a reflection of how I experience the world. Details observed in the environment around me: colours; patterns; textures, even subtle atmospheric changes, all feed into my subconscious to be communicated through the act of mindful creative play on the surface of the canvas.
Music is another source of inspiration which drives my evolving artwork forward. The energy, emotion and/or lyrics of what I’m listening to informs colour choices, use of mark-making and the way I move paint across the surface. Outcomes are the culmination of the process of adding and subtracting layers, the interplay between chance and intent, until a composition has emerged and point of harmony is reached. Paintings usually read like landscapes with a rhythmic quality and sense of movement. I often use song names or lyrics as titles.
Work is created using a combination of fluid acrylics, acrylic spray paint and marker pens: quick drying media which enables energetic progression. I grew up in the city of Bristol where the urban landscape with its graffiti adorned surfaces left its mark on my psyche, hence my tendency for bold use of colour and choice of spray paint as a favourite medium.
It has only been in recent months that I have begun to fully open to the possibility of creating art regularly and consistently. Following a BA (Hons) degree in Fine Art, I worked for a decade as a secondary school art teacher, but it is only since leaving the profession that I have been able to begin explore who I truly am as an artist.
For me, painting is a therapeutic practice; an act of sensory self-expression which gives my soul a voice. I love how abstract art produces strong, immediate and visceral responses in both the creator and the audience.
