artist-spotlight: Melelani perry

Melelani holds her collage featuring two butterflies made from cut paper, markers, and brightly colored tape.

Melelani Perry is an artist ready to create anywhere, out of anything, at any time. She’s been an artist forever, and doesn’t remember a single time in life where she stopped creating. I met Melelani at Artists First STL Studio where she works as a visual artist, however she’s also a fashion designer, dancer, and seamstress. Melelani’s been in more art shows and sold more pieces of work than she can count.

While it’s pretty common for creatives to walk around with a drawing pad, Melelani’s taken this concept to a whole new level. Her weekday backpack is filled with not only markers and paper, but dozens of roles of tape, half-finished projects, sparkly foam board, pipe cleaners, and cut-outs she’s saving for future projects.

​A pocket of Melelani’s backpack filled with brightly colored rolls of tape and
art supplies.

Workflow & Inspiration
Melelani’s inspiration is found in the entirety of the world around her. She finds beauty in everything. Her art speaks purity about our everyday surroundings. She skips much of the ambiguity and confusion and gets straight to point by adding titles directly onto the art itself.

“Police”, A collage of a policeman.

Melelani’s unique use of a tape border gives them an added color pop. These bold colors leave me feeling a jolt of energy and excitement.

“Butterfly” - A collage layout with a butterfly, Wonder Women, and the Eiffel Tower.

Sometimes Melelani is specifically inspired by an image or point of fantasy like the Eiffel Tower. There’s an interesting story about this image as it turns out to be an actual napkin recovered from Melelani’s 40th birthday celebration. She even has more napkins stowed away for future of creations.

Dreams
Melelani’s art dream is to have a studio space of her own where she can exhibit her art, dance, and work on projects all in one place. In her studio she would like drawers for collage material, sewing supplies, and a mannequin. The main thing this artist is looking for is a big enough space to dance in and show art on the wall. Melelani is especially excited about the idea of people stopping by to say hello and see what she’s up to in the studio.

A collage in stripes of color with images of a butterfly, Wonder Woman, the Eiffel Tower and the word “Paris.”

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​A collage of a Mermaid with a swirled shell in the background, the tail is made
out of tinfoil.

​A collage with an image of Melelani in the center of a butterfly and images of
Wonder Woman above her.

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Art Stats
Favorite Color: Purple
Inspiration: Wonder Women
Studio Space: Artists First STL Studio (7190 Manchester Road Maplewood, MO)
Purchasing Info: Absolutely everything Melelani creates is available for sale. You can
find Melelani’s work at Artists First Studio or online at www.artistsfirststl.org