Inside the Studio: Melissa McCormack
- Art Dealer Street
- Oct 14
- 5 min read
Welcome to a new edition of Inside the Studio on Art Dealer Street, where we step into the worlds of artists shaping today’s visual culture. This week, we’re thrilled to share an exclusive interview with Manhattan-based painter Melissa McCormack—an artist whose practice bridges photorealism and abstraction, and whose training in art and architectural restoration infuses her canvases with history, luminosity, and craft. From oil and gold leaf to motifs gathered across Egypt, Central Park, and coastal horizons, McCormack invites us into paintings that shimmer with memory, movement, and a quietly playful sense of wonder. Settle in and enjoy the conversation.
Read on to learn more in an exclusive interview with Melissa McCormack :
1. Your artwork draws heavily on your background in art and architectural restoration. How does that background influence your painting process and choice of subjects?
I have a passion for exploring both traditional and contemporary techniques—an understanding of which is essential for restoration work. Traditional methods, though often more time-intensive and reliant on multilayered processes, bring a richness and nuance that deeply enhance a piece. The precision required in preservation work also informs my own practice, particularly in my photorealistic paintings and the application of gold leaf.
My choice of subject matter draws heavily from elements I’ve encountered while working on sites across Europe, the Middle East, and America. Often, a texture, a pattern, or even the atmosphere of a location becomes the genesis of a painting.
2. You incorporate imagery from your travels around the world. Can you share a specific place or travel experience that deeply influenced a piece of your art?
Glimmer of History reflects my time living in Egypt and the palpable sense of both literal and metaphorical layers of history present there. I lived and worked near the souk, where the light carries a muted quality as it filters through the twisting alleys of the ancient marketplace. Formed from strata of historic architecture and veiled in a constant haze of desert dust—yet punctuated by the brilliance of objects for sale—the setting evokes the sensation of stepping into a dream of the past. The painting becomes a metaphorical maze of nostalgia: the softened light through which we perceive our memories, the intricate layering of those recollections, and the universal longing for a time when the future still held mystery and the promise of discovery.
3. You often work with oil paint and gold leaf. What attracts you to these materials, and how do they help convey your artistic vision?
I am drawn to a connection with the past that comes from working with traditional materials and techniques—transfiguring nostalgia into abstract, often whimsical creations. Through luminosity, light, reflection, and movement, I strive to evoke a visceral response, and these time-honored methods allow that depth to emerge.
Poet’s Walk II, a triptych conceived during my walks through Central Park in the midst of COVID, reflects both the rejuvenating power of nature and the quiet unease of that period. The reflective qualities of the medium capture shifting light, allowing the work to appear different from every angle and at various points throughout each day. This is similar to experiencing the shifting beauty and mood of a walk through the physical landscape.
4. Your statement mentions evoking movement, texture, and shifting light. How do you achieve these qualities in your paintings, and what emotions or themes do you hope to convey?
The choice of materials and the use of contrast are central to achieving these effects. Gold leaf, historically applied to smooth wood or metal surfaces, presents technical challenges when translated to canvas, yet it also opens new possibilities. Building up layers beneath the leaf and controlling their texture directly influence the final sheen and visual depth of the gold once applied.
Similarly, applying oil paint in thin, buildable layers with strong contrasts allows bold colors to convey movement and a subtle reflectiveness, as seen in my Fireflies series.
Recurring themes in my paintings include memory, exploration, and enigmatic atmospheres. I’m drawn to create paintings that can feel both dramatic and inviting.
5. You mention a love of travel and whimsy in your work. How do you balance playful, whimsical elements with the precise techniques of traditional oil- and gold-leaf painting?
My Coastlines series is an exercise in these contrasts. Inspired by seaside landscapes I’ve encountered throughout my travels, they speak to the universality of our experience with the sea. Infinitely mysterious and powerful, its constant movement is evocative of endless summer days and the allure of distant horizons.
The application of gold leaf introduces a counterpoint—a grounding element that shifts subtly with the changing light, anchoring the work even as it reflects the ocean’s restless motion.
6. You draw on images and impressions from your travels. How do you decide whether to depict these inspirations realistically or abstractly in your work?
I tend to see each work clearly in my mind’s eye before I ever start painting. Some pieces, like Ed, which is based on a giraffe whose huge, expressive eyes transfixed me as I hand-fed him at a wildlife rescue center in Kenya, are striking due to a specific, realistic detail. In that case, I was captivated by the strength and grace of this regal animal.
Other pieces present themselves to me as an abstract vision. My Deconstructed Hydrangea series marries the literal and abstract—transforming photorealistic subjects by setting them within abstract compositions and separating them into distinct color palettes.
7. What has been your experience working on commissioned pieces? How do you merge a client’s vision with your own artistic style?
When beginning a new commission, my first question is always what initially drew the client to my work. Often, there is a particular piece or series that resonates with them, and understanding what it evokes allows me to honor that connection in creating the commissioned work. Conversations about the intended space help establish practical elements such as scale and palette.
Because oil painting unfolds over time, I share images throughout the process, so the client can watch the work come to life. It is rewarding to be entrusted with something so personal—an artwork that will become part of someone’s daily life!
8. Looking ahead, are there any new techniques, themes, or projects you are excited to explore in your upcoming work?
I’ve just returned from Bali, where I was fascinated by the island’s deep tradition of hand-made stone carvings, visible in both its classical temples and contemporaneous architecture. Ancient limestone temple carvings, their details softened by weather and time, stand in contrast to recently created, sharp reliefs carved in volcanic stone, born from recent eruptions along the slopes of sacred mountains.
I’m working on a new series which draws from the intricate forms and various textures in these creations and am excited to explore the tension and harmony between these contrasts. Stay tuned!
Thank you for joining us Inside the Studio with Melissa McCormack. Her dedication to traditional craft, paired with a fearless curiosity for new forms, reminds us how memory, light, and place can live inside a painting. Keep an eye on Art Dealer Street and our Instagram for the feature reel and more from Melissa’s evolving body of work.
You can learn more about Melissa McCormack and her work via these links:
Website: @Melissa McCormack Instagram: @mccormack_fine_art
Cohart: @Melissa McCormack.
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