Climate Change Has Melanie Oliva Painting Red

A solo exhibition by Melanie Oliva featuring works from her After-image Series of watercolor and acrylic paintings will run from February 10 to April 23, 2022 at The Frank Gallery in Pembroke Pines, FL.

Oliva, a Miami artist who changed careers from Creative Director in advertising to fine artist in 2014, has been using her artwork to bring awareness to sociopolitical and environmental issues since. While her After-image paintings use a visual illusion to tell stories about threatened flora and fauna, the colors aim to assure the viewer that climate change is anything but an illusion:

“My After-image Series was born from driving through Miami as a passenger after we moved here – I would close my eyes at particularly scary moments. I noticed the sun would leave a detailed ‘after-image’ under my eyelids of what I saw beforehand. This inspired me to create a series using this visual phenomenon as a metaphor”, says Oliva. 

The series forewarns that the beauty of our world may someday only survive as an after-image – the image you see after staring at something bright – if we close our eyes at the most critical moments and do not act to protect it.

Oliva’s solo show – located in The Frank Aisles gallery (lobby) – runs concurrently with group exhibition Elemental: Terra, Tide & Time (main gallery) and Natural Mystic (second floor). Guests are invited to attend the opening on February 10 from 6-9pm at The Frank Gallery, 601 City Center Way, Pembroke Pines, FL. Parking and admission are free and masks are required. To see more of Melanie Oliva’s work, visit her website (melanieoliva.com) and Instagram (@melanieolivaartist).