Info

Bio

Melissa Mercier is a fine art photographer based in Vancouver, Canada. After a move from her native Québec to Toronto, Melissa then studied photography at Vancouver’s Langara College and worked under photographer Anthony Redpath.

Artist Statement

It's about control. Levels of perfection and imperfection are not acceptable in Melissa's world - immaculacy is the only option. She strives for perfection in all areas if her life, but only through her photographs does she have complete control over every detail, leading to an acceptable finality. Ultimately her work is a study of her own personality and a reflection of her obsessiveness. In addition to being a perfectionist Mercier is also somewhat of a claustrophobe and a self proclaimed obsessive compulsive. She is not the least bit embarrassed about these personality traits, in fact she celebrates them through her photographs leading to images that deal with our collective uncontrollable behaviours. This fascination has lead to an opening of the mind to society's quirks and fears which has become a study of compulsiveness.

In the series "Irrational Fear of Confined Spaces" Melissa carefully chooses her subject at a crowded lakefront. Where Gursky (Swimming Pool, Ratingen, 1987) or fellow Vancouverite Scott McFarland (On the Terrace Garden, Joe and Rosalee Segal with Cosmos altrosanguineus, 2004) might choose to focus on the sociological, Melissa removes the human element completely to offer a remedy to anyone suffering from feelings of claustrophobia. "This series was photographed at a resort commonly overrun with tourists - a nightmare for someone who fears tight spaces." states Mercier. "I decided to contrast the crowdedness by allowing as much breathing room as possible in the works." Some of these images appear to be taken underwater but they are all from above, allowing the submerged and protruding elements of the natural setting play with the lake's surface much like our own fears poking through or drowning within our public personalities.

Exhibition

Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, Canada, December 2012-January 2013

NordArt, Budelsdorf, Germany, June-September 2012

Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto, Canada, May 2012

Eastside Culture Crawl, Vancouver, Canada, November 2011

Barrister Lounge, Vancouver, Canada, November-December 2011

Maison Taché, Montmagny, Québec, Canada, August-October 2011

Vancouver Art Rentals & Sales, Vancouver Art Gallery, Permanent

Bibliography

Booooooom, May 2012

Haute Design, May 2012

Journal l’Oie Blanche April 2012