Statement:

I am a mixed media artist examining themes of decline, regeneration and bloom. I create a utopian Garden of Eden for tomorrow out of the refuse of today. I am drawn to the discarded; ninety percent of my materials are repurposed. I bring together incongruous fabrics with past lives: artists’ brush cleaning rags, mother-in-law’s blouse, worn blue jeans, cast off sheets, plastic mesh vegetable bags, vintage linens and brightly colored fabric samples of discontinued patterns. I often know the donor of the materials I use and I think of them as I deconstruct, reconstruct, paint and print on their scraps. My pieces are collaged and then drawn on with thread.

I explore imagery from nature because its cacophony and chaos represents our shared human experience of coping with a complex world where we are bombarded with information and beset with challenges. I use the formal elements of landscape painting as a structure to help me puzzle through and arrange hundreds of disparate snippets of detritus into a unified scene. I keep my focus close to the ground, as in a worm’s eye view, representing our relationship to the power of our environment.

My pieces are made with fabric for many reasons. I love worn cloth’s sensual qualities. My friends’ and families’ clothes are imbued with their memory, so as I work, I am surrounded by the people I love. I am interested in apparel as it represents class and identity, a speeded up consumer culture and the globalization of manufacturing.

In my strong palette, “all over” imagery, and use of fabric, I owe a debt to the 1970‘s “Pattern and Decoration” movement. In my use of recycled clothing and of sewing construction I pay homage to the history of women patching together salvaged bits of fabric to make quilts.

Resume:

Solo Exhibitions

Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, 2013
Tree Pieces, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, MA, 2011
Merill Comeau, The Center for Arts in Natick, Natick, MA, 2011
Fragments of Eden, ArtSpace Gallery, Maynard, MA, 2010
Merill Comeau: Fiber Collage, Concord Art Association, Concord, MA 2010
Bloom, Owen Smith Shuman Gallery, Groton Public Library, Groton, MA, 2009

Selected Invitational Exhibitions

Trustman Gallery, Simmons College, Boston, Fall 2011
Wild Apple Artists, Andover Newton Theological School, Fall 2011
Fabrications, ALL Gallery, Lowell, MA 2009 and 2010
Art Gone Green, BHCC Art Gallery, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston, MA 2009
Mixed Media/Fiber, Curator: Jeanne Williamson, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA 2009
A Fixed Point: New Art from the Old North Bridge, Curator: Ilana Manolson, Concord Art Assoc., MA 2008, travelled to Carney Gallery, Fine Arts Center, Regis College, Weston, MA 2008
Botanical Inspirations, Owen Smith Shuman Gallery, Groton Public Library, Groton, MA 2008

Selected Juried Exhibitions

Members Juried II, Concord Art Association, Concord, MA 2011
Textiles in a Tube, Riverworks Gallery, Greenville, South Carolina 2011
Off The Wall, Staff Picks, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA 2010
Northeast Prize Exhibition, Juror: Cheryl Brutvan, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge MA 2010
Art From Detritus, Pure Light Gallery, Turners Falls, MA 2010
Roddy Open Competition, Concord Art Association, Concord, MA 2009
RED, Juror: Carl Belz, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA 2009
Nature, Caladan Gallery 2009
Artists in the Arboretum, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, MA 2009
Art Walk Store Front Windows, COOL, Lowell, MA 2009
Nothing New, Juror: Steve Aimone, Textile Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2009
Edge, Jurors: Dana Salvo and Dawn Southworth, Artspace Gallery, Maynard, MA, 2009
Bloom, Gallery 51, Mass. College of Liberal Arts, North Adams, MA, 2008
Members Prize Show, Juror: Nick Capasso, Cambridge Art Assoc, Cambridge, MA, 2008
Craft USA, Juror: Gretchen Keyworth, Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT, 2008
Art in the Round Barn, Green Mountain Cultural Center, Waitsfield, VT, 2008
Northeast Prize Exhibition, Juror: Nicholas Baume, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA, 2008
Surface: Layered, Coconino Community College, Flagstaff, AZ, 2008
Plant Life, Caladan Gallery, 2008
Women of the Cloth, Bunker Hill Community College, Boston MA, 20008
Petal Pushers, Worcester Center for Crafts, MA, 2008
Clay and Fiber, Juror: Dorothy Hughes, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2008
Seek Alternative Roots, Members Juried Exhibition, 119 Gallery, Lowell, MA, 2007

Awards/Grants/Residencies

Weir Farm Art Center Residency, October 2011
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont, 2009
Massachusetts Cultural Council, Local Cultural Council grant: Groton, MA, 2009
Massachusetts Cultural Council, Local Cultural Council grant: Concord, MA, 2007
CCHS Parent Association, Concord, MA, 2007
Juror’s Award (Lucy Lacoste), Concord Art Association Members Juried II, Concord, MA 2007

Publications

Fiberarts Magazine, Summer 2011: Merill Comeau, More Works of a Healing Nature, page 21 and also online
Fiber and Stitch Collage: A Study of Nature, Quilting Arts Magazine, Interweave Press, Issue 38, April/May 2009, pages 42-47.

Bibliography

Hansen, Sara, Works of a healing Nature, FiberArts, Summer 2011
Tree Pieces: Painted Fabric Collages" by Merill Comeau, Though the lilacs aren't yet out, the Arboretum blossoms with art, James Morgan, JamaicaPlain.Patch.com, March 20, 2011
Fleming, Markel, Textiles in a Tube, Riverworks Gallery, Greenville, SC
Nano Interview with Merill Comeau, ArtSake Blog, Massachusetts Cultural Council,
Rooney, Ashley, 100 Artists of New England, Schiffer Publishing, ISBN 9780764336652, February 2011
Goslow, Brian, Capsule Preview, ArtScope Magazine, November/December 2010, pages 50-51.
Smith, Margaret, Cycles and Seasons in Art Show, wickedlocal.com, Thursday, October 21, 2010.
Forrester, Caroline, “Everything has its beauty but not everyone sees it” Confucius, NorthWest Life Magazine, April
2010, page 46.
Smith, Margaret, Fiber Collages, wickedlocal.com, Thursday, January 21, 2010, page 39.
Wild Apples: a journal of nature, art and inquiry, Fall/Winter 2010, Issue Four: Thread, Fiber, Cloth, illustration
pages: inside cover, 32, 33.
Finch, Jessica, Home is Where the Art Is, Catalogue of Artwork for the Family House at 241 Kent Street, Children’s
Hospital, Boston, 2009, pages 22-23.
Johnson, Garth, 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, Quarry Press, Quayside Publishing Group, 2009, page 49.
Santoro, Deborah, Merill Comeau – Bloom, http://gpl.org/events-and-activities/art-gallery, August 17, 2009
Zevitas, Steven T., Studio Visit, Open Studio Press, Volume 3, 2008, page 42-43.
Noon, Rosemary, From A Fixed Point: New Art from the Old North Bridge, Exhibition Catalogue, Regis College
Fine Arts Center, Weston, MA, 2008, page 3-4.

Public Commissions/Collections

Schepens Eye Research Institute, Boston, MA, 2010
Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA. 2009
Children’s Hospital, Boston, Kent Street Residence, Brookline, MA, 2009
First Parish in Concord, MA, 2008

Professional Affiliations/Experience

Concord Art Association, Concord, MA, member, exhibition committee member
ArtSpace, Maynard, MA, studio resident
Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MA, member
Surface Design Association, member
Juror, Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine, Interweave Press, Mixed Media Artist Competition, Stow, MA, 2010
Artist Demo, Concord Art Association, Concord, MA 2010
Founder: Artists Coaching Group, Metropolitan Boston Area, 2008-present
Facilitator/Instructor: “Making Art from Life”, Wright Center for Spiritual Renewal, Concord, MA, 2009-2010
Artist’s Professional Toolbox, Boston, MA, 2008
Artist Talk: Regis College, Fixed Point Exhibition, Weston, MA 2008
Guest Lecturer: Endicott College Expressive Therapies Program, Beverly, MA, 2008
Artist Talk: Botanical Inspirations, Groton Public Library, Groton, MA 2008
Guest speaker: Legislative Breakfast, State House, Boston MA, Therapeutic Community Project, 2008
Guest speaker: Northeast Family Institute, Danvers, MA, Board Meeting, Therapeutic Community Project, 2008
Panel Moderator: Artists Talk about Fixed Point, Concord Art Association, Concord, MA, 2007

Selected Community Projects

NFI Massachusetts, Respite Program, After School Program, Lawrence, MA, 2010
Spectrum Gay Straight Alliance, Concord Carlisle High School, Concord, MA “Tiger for Human Rights” wall hanging, 2008
North Crossing, Newton, MA (teen therapeutic residence) community wall hanging, 2006. Exhibited@ Simmons School of Social Work, Simmons College, Boston, MA; Corporate Offices Northeast Family Institute, Danvers, MA; Massachusetts State House, Mental Health Funding Breakfast, Boston, MA; Concord Art Association, Concord, MA. Awards: Community Spirit Award, Northeast Family Institute. Currently on view @ North Crossing residence, Newton MA.
Community Interventions Program, Arlington, MA (teen therapeutic residence) community wall hanging, 2006. Exhibited @ Arlington Center for the Arts. Currently on view @ C.I.P. residence, Arlington MA.
The Faith Quilts Projects 2004-2007: Kerem Shalom Intergenerational Dialogue wall hanging; First Parish in Concord “Go Out Into the World” Social Action Committee wall hanging; Keystone Montessori School Immigrant Hindu Mothers Community wall hanging. Exhibited @ “Faith, Arts and Community”, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA; Cloud Foundation, Boston, MA; Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; “Faith, Arts and Community” Peabody and Essex Museum, Salem, MA.

Education

B.A., Social Theory and Political Economics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Continuing Education includes Boston University: Art History, Boston Architectural College: Design

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