Melanie Ubaldo: Almost Perfect
Melanie Ubaldo (b. 1992, Philippines) is an Icelandic artist based in Reykjavik.
Ubaldo creates monuments to unbelonging. Her works are an exercise in linguistic vulnerability where image and text are inextricably linked, among others, through deconstructionist paintings incorporating text with graffiti like vandalism oftentimes of her own crude experiences of others preconceptions, thus exposing the power of immediate unreflected judgment.The point of departure in her work is how identity is constructed, transformed and expressed through language and in doing so attempts to break down and question socially transfixed roles and the process of social integration/marginalization of difference. Alongside her solo practice, Ubaldo is a co-founder of Lucky 3, a collective of Icelandic artists of Filipino origins.
"Almost perfect is as anecdotal as all of my previous works.
A complete stranger tells me something and it subconsciously has an immense effect on my practice. Talking about an old painting of mine that has since been “lost.” Almost perfect might just be the greatest compliment I’ve ever heard about my work. As if chasing the one that got away, this exhibition is just one of many, countless attempts at reclaiming/reimagining that which is almost perfect
I don’t quite know what the stranger meant with almost perfect but I have since come to believe that it is the serendipitous happenstance -slightly off and it’s brilliant; and impossible to replicate. Anxious rubbing of oil and ink on serene canvas, the plastic scent of acrylic mixed with toxic turpentine and spray, foot steps and cat hair - almost perfect."
