Throughout all of his work there is a strong commitment to an investigation of material guided by conceptual practice. In the process of this investigation, connections are made between themes of absence and presence -- and material movements through time, place, identity, order, and change. The material response to these environments tends to be of an industrial nature, as that history and reference is a nostalgic component of Melvin’s perspective. His current research is investigating fields of flexible structures, modular methodologies, and systems of repetition that occur in natural constructs. At the center of this investigation is to distill a meaning of ecology that is relevant to cultural identity.

Exhibitions of his work have been in San Francisco, Portland, Santa Fe, Sarasota, and Boston nationally, as well as internationally in Scotland, France. and Ukraine. Melvin earned his BFA from Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, Massachusetts, a Post-Baccalaureate from the Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art in France, and received his MFA in 2009 from the San Francisco Art Institute.

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Exhibition History

Selected Publications

“ArtPrize 2011 begins”, Wood TV, Sept. 22, 2011
“Nailing an entry for Artprize”, Matt Gade, Associated Press / Detroit News.  Sept. 17, 2011: front page, Metro Final
“Wonderland brightens Tenderloin, artists' spirit”, Heather Knight, San Francisco Chronicle.  Nov. 8, 2009, C1&2
“Fresh Young Things: New Talent from Northern California”, Foster, Tim., Midtown Monthly. July 2009: 24
“Getting Fresh”, Shafiee, Shoka.,  Sacramento News and Reviews, d’art picks section. July 9, 2009: 3
“Picked Fresh from the Field of Fine Art: Seeds of Major Talent on Display at JAYJAY Show for Recent Grads”., The Sacramento Bee, Weekend Ticket Section. July 17, 2009: 8-9
“Freshly Varnished and Ready for Their Close Up”, Beltran, JD., SFGATE: City Brights, Art And Culture Fix,  May 20, 2009: www.sfgate.com
“MFA and Morandi”, Ewart, Nancy., Bay Area Art Quake: MFA and Morandi, May 25, 2009: www.baartquake.blogspot.com
The Kowbott Workshop: John K Melvin Artworks; www.marcusprize.blogspot.com
, 2008
Sculpture, September 2007, Aven Project Review
Chroniques du Pays de Pont-Aven, Cyrille Maguer, Editions Alan Sutton 2007
France 3, June 16th 2006, Television documentary on the Aven Project
« Art. Un rêve Américan flotte sur Pont-Aven », Le Télégramme, 26 Janvier 2006, SUD, page 10
France 3, January 15th, 2006, Television program on Breton culture, and Artists working with nature

Artist Statement

I am committed to an investigation of material guided by conceptual practice. I make connections between themes of absence and presence -- and material movements through time, place, identity, order, and change.  I reflect on physical transformations, as they exist in perceptual fields of reference, and attempt to connect them to philosophical concerns of experience, transitory existence, and materiality.  These personal reflections are based on my experiences as I negotiate the world that is presented to me through various architectural, spatial or material environments. 

I deliver these conceptual explorations primarily through the medium of site-specific installations.  In addition to my sculptural practice, I also utilize graphic works, digital renders and photography, all of which explore the idea of transitional states.  My material choices in response to these environments are industrial, as that history and reference is a nostalgic component of my perspective.  I am currently researching flexible structures, modular methodologies, highway structures, and systems of repetition that occur in natural systems.  At the center of this investigation is to distill a meaning of ecology that is relevant to cultural identity.

On the outskirts of conceptual rhetoric are complications, generalities, metaphors, puzzles, and riddles; these are personality actants in my conceptual process.  I utilize these actants as ploys to simultaneously deny and allow the viewer entry to the narrative content of the work.  A dialogue is initiated as the viewer assembles the puzzle and discovers the often ironic material combinations.  This dialogue expands upon personal and conceptual themes of absence and presence, inside and outside, and other polar scenarios.

JKM 2009