Melinda Rosenberg



Melinda Rosenberg

About The Artist

Melinda Rosenberg • Columbus, OH
Wood

Rosenberg’s approach is like a collage artist, often beginning with a stick. Sticks are chosen for their natural beauty and unique qualities—how they’ve aged, perhaps the insect trails etched on the surface. The sticks bring their history with them, which becomes a part of the work. The elliptical shape is feminine and are imagined as vessels, boats or shields – something that holds something else. Melinda works in Columbus, Ohio. She loves to camp and hike, gathering sticks along the way.



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Q&A with the Artist

Tell us how your work is made.

I start by placing the stick on a large sheet of paper and sketching a template around it. After cutting out the template, I select the wood. Some boards are pre-painted and sanded to reveal the grain, others come from old barns, and some are newly milled. I aim to create a contrast in age and color between the stick and the selected board. The wood is cut, routed for a curved edge, sanded, fitted, and joined - however because I am constantly looking for the unexpected, I make many variations.


What makes you passionate about the medium you work with?

Wood serves as both my medium and a metaphor for life. By featuring sticks, roots, and wood, I create a visceral way to experience the mystical part of life, literally connecting with nature. I represent aging and growth through the contrast of old and new wood—the presence of time in decaying wood and the forward movement of growth in the rings. For me, working with wood keeps me aware of an ultimate mystery. And its just fun.

What is something unique about you or your practice?

I have developed a community of stick hunters! My neighbors drop off old Christmas trees, when I am on a walk with family we are all on the lookout, and my current sticks have been supplied by the estate of Dorothy Gill Barnes, renowned tree bark basket maker. The stories of the sticks, who collected them and why are a part of my work.