I Can't Pretend 1990

Melissa Meyer made this painting "I Can't Pretend" with layers of loose gestures in a luscious color palette of blues, greens, purples, and pinks. You can tell the artist laid down each stroke instinctively, letting the composition shift and emerge through experimentation. I can imagine her there, brush in hand, responding to the emerging image, making decisions on the fly. Thick paint! Thin paint! That pink outline zinging through the center feels particularly meaningful, like a scar or a lifeline. Meyer's work reminds me of other artists like Joan Mitchell. Like Mitchell, Meyer is part of an ongoing conversation, an exchange of ideas through time. All these painters inspire each other's creativity. For Meyer, painting is embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.