What does crime mean? In the mysterious painting of oil, Isabella Mellado is so disconnected from the Catholic inner gui that she knows that the beauty of desire and violations cannot be enjoyed.
The Chicago-based Puerto Rican-born artist is known for his magical realist works that draw on tarot cards and mystics to explore queer identity and Latin America. Melado’s recent exhibition, 7 pecadosshowing a series of vivid paintings that, like most of her practices, reject the narrowness of Christianity. Instead, artists question how we view laziness, binge eating, and desire are not so avoidable mistakes, but rather empowering and essential abilities to our humanity.
Mellado often starts one with a show photo. She and her accomplices wore witch costumes and traffic around the body of water or fire, their hands occupying a card or holy grail. These images are the basis for her large-scale paintings, which brings the already magical scenes into a dreamy and mysterious light.
Although Western religions like Christianity have little room for identity and behavior that they believe in, Melado brings us to an alternative space where characters can enjoy the fun freely. Role-playing roles of witches and magicians, those who remain anonymous behind the disguise but firmly participate in their empowerment.
Merado’s previous projects include te dire quien eresin the Chicago Povos exhibition, which occupies the central premise from a line at Miguel Cervantes’s Don Quijote de la Mancha: “Tell me who you are with, and I will tell you who you are.” These paintings reject strange sense of shame and what is often considered weird, but hone the intimacy of the divine space that is provided for life and covenant.
Find more information about Mellado on her website and Instagram, including original photos and generated paintings.
