Natalie Melara (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Mohkinstsis/Calgary, Canada. Melara is the recipient of multiple awards including the New Zones Gallery of Contemporary Art Scholarship and the Joane Cardinal-Schubert Memorial scholarship. Her practice involves cultural investigation, feelings of displacement, and the formation of a hybrid identity

@nataliemelaraart
@Natalie_Melara
@_miss_naty_
www.nataliemelara.com

Who am I? Where do I belong? Identity investigates the tension that stems from being Canadian born to Salvadoran parents and the consequential cultural juggling.

I built a tentative relationship with both cultures as I grew up, but have always lacked full ownership of either. I reside in a liminal space between the two in which I feel like I am constantly faced with a varied - and often opposing - sets of values, beliefs, languages and social practices. I am either “too much” Latina or “too much” Canadian, mean while in other instances I’m not Latina enough or Canadian enough. The repeated negations of my identity have resulted in feelings of displacement and has led to the formation of a hybrid identity.

Identity is part of a larger body of work where I highlight how the liminal space between the real world and the digital world, just like the liminal space between two cultures, results in new realities and artifacts. I refashion and repurpose handmade paintings and collages into digital forms. My paintings are turned into patterns using Adobe Capture. The colours and imagery from my handmade work result in digital patterns that resemble weavings and textiles of Central America. Every layer of the work depends on one another and aims to reform and improve with each cycle. I then examine these patterns for imagery and iconography that I can again refashion and repurpose into a finished work.

Through the resulting media hybrids I attempt to gain a better understanding of the belief systems and life experiences that inform who I am.