Mercedes Jelinek (b. 1985) is an American artist and photographer living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Specializing in black and white photography, Jelinek often transforms the photographic image through painting and collage. Her visual narratives are driven by her curiosity regarding the variety of humanity, especially the stories of the lives of her subjects. She often travels worldwide, meeting, immersing, and learning about people's values and traditions. The resulting projects reflect her connections and collaborations with her subjects. Her work aims to engage her audience in a visual dialog about community, identity, and women's equality issues experienced in a post-COVID, "Me Too" altered, and Roe vs. Wade overturned world. The series “De Translation” began as a way to express feelings about the acculturation process that occurs while immersed in a foreign land. A sense of overwhelming isolation as one struggles to learn a different language is often compounded by frustration and exasperation when attempting even the most straightforward task. But as time progresses, a sense of calm and tranquility takes over as one adapts to each new situation; a daunting task becomes an effortless act, a stranger becomes a companion, and an unfamiliar place feels like home. This results in a culmination of many intricate pieces taken from one's place of origin combined with their newsurroundings. Each portrait is built from individual inkjet prints on recycled book pages, meticulously gridded together to form the final piece. The pages chosen for this project are from different texts written in Italian or about Italian culture. She holds a BFA in Visual Arts from the State University of New York at Purchase and an MFA from Louisiana State University. Mercedes has served as a professor, lecturer, visiting artist, and artist resident throughout the U.S. and Italy, including East Carolina University in Certaldo, Italy, Penland School of Craft, The New School Parsons, and Yale University School of Art. She is a board member of Blue Sky Gallery (Portland, OR) and Penland School of Craft (Penland, NC). Jelinek’s work and publications have been exhibited both nationally and internationally. They are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum, Library of Congress, Aperture Foundation, and the Getty Institute.