Melinda Laszczynski
Melinda Laszczynski is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, collage, and sculpture, often incorporating found materials to create complex, dynamic compositions. Her art is characterized by its playful, tactile nature and its ability to evoke contemporary experiences through a blend of absurdity and reflection.
Laszczynski's paintings frequently feature lenticular prints, which change as the viewer moves around them, and reflective glitter films, adding layers of visual intrigue and interaction. She builds up her surfaces with thick acrylics, glitter, and collaged paint skins, creating artwork that functions as portals into tactile, shifting spaces. These materials often create a tension between attraction and repulsion, making her artwork simultaneously inviting and challenging. Her ceramic work is a natural extension of her paintings. Clay is a balance of alchemy and anticipation, a push and pull between manipulation and the (at times merciless) nature of the material. It holds onto that memory of manipulation, whether a touch of the hand or a glaze, a hazy but persistent layer til the end. It’s romantic, made of literal earth, fire, and minerals. When Laszczynski makes these sculptures, she thinks of cakes rising and falling, bodies pushing against one another, and new growth pushing through organic forms. Layers of texture and color spill out and fight for air.
Laszczynski received her MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Houston and her BFA in Painting from the Cleveland Institute of Art. She is a Professor of Studio Art at Houston Community College. Laszczynski was a resident in the 2016-2017 Lawndale Art Center Artist Studio Program, the Spring 2021 Artists-in-Residence program at the Printing Museum, and the Vermont Studio Center. She has shown her artwork extensively across Texas. Recently, her work has been at exhibited at the Gallery at UTA in Arlington, TX, Point of Contact Gallery in Syracuse, NY, and Survival Kit Gallery in Cleveland, OH. Her artwork has also been exhibited at Cardoza Fine Art in Houston, Galleri Urbane in Dallas, TX, Pulse Miami, and the Amarillo Museum of Art 600 Sculpture Biennial. Laszczynski’s artwork is included in the collections of UTSW (Dallas), Toyota (Dallas), and Lester Marks (Houston). She lives and works in Houston, TX with her partner John and their cats Agnes and Krudler.
View Melinda Laszczynski's artwork in the 2023 exhibition, Chuffed Up!