Melinda LaszczynskiMelinda Laszczynski is a Houston-based artist who is concerned with the qualities of unconventional media and the physical characteristics of found and repurposed objects. Laszczynski’s concern with the experience of looking is reflected in the ways she treats objects, such as found lenticular prints. She often imbeds these prints as well as reflective glitter film into her paintings, causing the image to shift as the viewer moves. In this way, her work becomes figurative by referencing the reflection and the distance of the viewer to the painting. Laszczynski fills her studio with found materials such she considers magical. She describes her studio practice as “playful, peaceful, and unapologetically girly.” Nevertheless, Laszczynski remains a formalist at heart and demonstrates a commitment to artistic elements such as line, shape, color, and form. Born Pittsburgh, PA EDUCATION2015 MFA, Painting and Drawing, University of Houston, Houston, TX2010 BFA, Painting, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH SOLO EXHIBITIONS2023 Material Study, Wedge Space Arts Lab, Houston, TX 2022 Pressure Cookie, Art League Houston, Houston, TX2021 Cake Lake Lake Cake, Shed Gallery, New Orleans, LA2019 The Love Lives of Stones, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX2018 Swoon, Front Gallery, Houston, TX2017 A Hole A Pool A Moon, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX2016 Party Tricks, Terminal 136, San Antonio, Houston, TXPortals and Prophecies, Cardoza Fine Art, Houston, TXLady Palace, GalleryHOMELAND, Houston, TX. In conjunction: Tight Sticks, an installation at HomeCORE.2015 Paintings and Other Delights, Thesis Exhibition, Project Space Gallery, University of Houston, Houston, TXEverything All At Once, Matchbox Gallery, Rice University, Houston, TXAfter Party, Rhizome Gallery, Las Vegas, NV2014 Jam Don't Shake, Settlement Goods & Design, Houston, TXAlways Plus One Day, Fresh Arts, Houston, TX2011 Formal Seductions, Arts Collinwood, Cleveland, OHSELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS2022 Contemporary Texas Women Artists: Abstraction Here & Now, Art Museum of Southeast Texas, Beaumont, TX2022 Texas Emerging: Volume III, Foltz Fine Art, Houston, TX2022 Texas Artists, Women of Abstraction, Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX, Curated by Deborah Fullerton2021 Tactile Sublime, Dodomu Gallery, Brooklyn, NY The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX. curated by Cecilia Fajardo-Hill2020 Xanax Party: Time to Chill, Private Eye Gallery, Houston TX, curated by Pablo Cardoza2019 When the Wind Comes Right Behind the Rain, Point of Contact Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY Earthly Delights, Arc House, Houston, TX This is How I Do This, HCC Central Faculty Exhibition, Houston Community College, Houston, TX2019 Alumni Exhibition, The Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH. Curated by Courtenay Finn No More Tears, Survival Kit Gallery, Cleveland, OH You Are Standing On A Prehistoric Ocean, Sandusky Cultural Center, Sandusky, OH2018 TX Contemporary, Houston, TX, presented by Pablo Cardoza Gallery Rendezvous, Goldmark Cultural Center, Dallas, TX. Curated by Meredith Cawley2017 Families and Feminisms, Kent State University, Stark, OH Temporary Havens, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX. Curated by Dean Daderko The Reflection in the Sword of Holofernes, Galveston Artist Residency, Galveston, TX. Curated by Sallie Barbee and Eric Schnell 2016 Houston vs. Dallas, Blue Orange Gallery, Houston, TX. Curated by Brandon Zech Homelife, Inman Gallery, Houston, TX. Organized by Dana Frankfort and Gael Stack Girls Just Wanna, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX Payday Lenders, Cardoza Fine Art, Houston, TX Assistance League of Houston Celebrates Texas Art, Williams Tower, Houston, TX, Juror: Brady Roberts2015 Expectations & Accessibility, Blue Orange Gallery, Houston, TX AMoA Biennial 600: Sculpture, Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, TX. Curator: Leigh Arnold Here and Now, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX. Curator: Adrian Zuniga 37th Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, Blaffer Art Museum, University of Houston, Houston, TX META, Houston City Hall, presented by Love Street, Houston, TX 30th Annual International Exhibition, Tyler at University of Texas, Meadows Gallery, Tyler, TX, Juror: James R. Pace Assistance League of Houston Celebrates Texas Art, Williams Tower, Houston, TX, Juror: Dean Sobel2014 Apply Pressure Here, Project Gallery, University of Houston, Houston, TX Connect Five, 4411 Montrose, Houston, TX {____ +____}, (____ + ____}, {____ + ____}: A Collage Show, (SCENE) Metrospace, East Lansing, MI Juror: Michelle Word Under Construction, SOHO20 Gallery, NY, NY Juror: Sharon Matt Atkins One of Us, Barbee Manshun, Houston, TX School of Art Student Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery, Houston, TX 2013 The Big Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX. Juror: Duncan MacKenzie This End Up, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX School of Art Student Exhibition, Blaffer Gallery, Houston, TX Disturbance of Distance, Box13 Artspace, Houston, TX. Curator: Kimberly Aubuchon U of H Graduate Painting Students Exhibition, College of the Mainland Art Gallery, Texas City, TX2012 HOWBOUTNOW, 4411 Montrose Galleries, Houston, TX Wide Open Spaces, Iris Studio, Little Italy, Cleveland, OH In-Turn, Zygote Press, Cleveland, OH. Curator: Meghana Karnik Made For Cutting, Forum Gallery, Cleveland, OH. Curator: Michael Abarca2011 Second Annual Bazaarbeque, Forum Gallery, Cleveland, OH Full Service, VAT Coventry Center, Cleveland Heights, OH Kunst Eaters: An 18 Night Affair With the City of Berlin, The Reinberger Galleries, Cleveland, OH2010 Member’s Exhibition, Arts Collinwood, Cleveland, Ohio Little Things, BFA Thesis Show, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH SIE 64, Reinberger Galleries, Cleveland, OH. Jurors: Dario Robelto, Pascual Sisto, Christa Donner2009 The Way We Live Now, The Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland, OH. Curator: Maryam OhadiRESIDENCIES2017 Artist Studio Program, Lawndale Art Center, Houston TX2016 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VTPROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE2018- Campus Contact, Southeast Campus, Houston Community College, Houston TX Professor of Visual Arts, Houston Community College, Houston, TXGCIC (Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Consortium) Representative2017-18 Instructor, Art, Paris Junior College, Paris, TX2016-17 Instructor, Art League Houston, Houston, TX2015-17 Adjunct, Houston Community College, Houston, TXSummer Instruction Adjunct, Fundamentals of Drawing, University of Houston, Houston, TX2014 Teaching Fellow, Fundamentals of Painting, University of Houston, Houston, TXTeaching Fellow, Fundamentals of Printmaking, University of Houston, Houston, TX2013 Member, Student Leadership Board, Center for Arts Leadership, University of Houston, TXTeaching Fellow, Fundamentals of Drawing, University of Houston, Houston, TX2012 Installation Assistant, Franklin Evans: houstontohouston, Diverse Works, Houston, TX2010-12 Technical Assistant, Painting and Drawing Depts., Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OHGUEST LECTURE2016 Visiting Artist Lecture, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY2013 The Big Slide Show, Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX2010 Populating the Future of University Circle: The Student Body, Panel Discussion hosted by the Women’s Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH. Moderator: Dee Perry2009 Report from New Orleans: The Painting Department Presents PROSPECT.1, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OHPRESS 2018 http://voyagehouston.com/interview/art-life-melinda-laszczynski/ https://www.artspace.com/magazine/news_events/the_hot_list/8-covetable-artists-to-acquire-at-pulse-55822 2016 New American Paintings, MFA Annual, Juror: Catherine Taft2014 MAKE8ELIEVE, Party Issue #5: http://www.make8elieve.com/2013 New American Paintings, No. 111 MFA Annual, Juror: Lisa D. Frieman http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2013/07/betsy-huete-five-pieces-from-big-show.html2012 Featured artist: http://arthound.com/2012/06/artist-crush Featured artist: http://www.booooooom.com/2012/09/11/artist-melinda-laszczynski/ AWARDS2019 Finalist, Wendy Wagner Foundation Summer 2019 GrantLet Creativity Happen! Grant, Houston Arts Alliance2016 Bedichek-Orman Grant for Professional Development, Houston Community College, Houston, TX2013 Jon Hohlt and Roger Wich Scholarship, University of HoustonPresidential Second Year Scholarship, University of Houston2012 Susan Vaughn Scholarship, University of HoustonPresidential First Year Scholarship, University of Houston2010 Student Leadership Award, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OHTop 20 Finalist, The President’s Traveling Scholarship, Cleveland Institute of Art *Artist Interview