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A close up photo of artist Melissa Calderón. She faces away slightly and looks into the camera with a neutral expression.

Melissa Calderón

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I create bodies of conceptual work that focus on the social philosophical aspects of historical (re)memory, privilege, and consequence. My multi-media approach allows me to make work from various vantage points. I received my art education from my own practical art experience that I call "The Mott Haven Art School"; a playful reference to my many years living and working in the South Bronx. With no formal art training, I researched like a historian and questioned and critiqued like a wry sociologist; weaving history with memory while combining symbolic significance of process and materiality.

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Self-taught artist Melissa Calderón has exhibited at El Museo del Barrio, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Queens Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park, Portland Museum of Art, among others. Recently, She had a retrospective of her embroidery work at Espacio Reunión (San Juan, PR) and was included in the book Latinx Art: Artists, Markets, and Politics by Arlene Davila. In 2019, she became the first female Latinx artist to create a monument for The City of New York. Para Roberto, dedicated to Roberto Clemente, is permanently installed in the South Bronx and won NYC’s Public Design Commission’s 38th Annual Award for Excellence in Design.

Featured Artwork

An embroidered tree and fence next to an embroidered sign that reads "Villa Nueva," all on grey linen. In the top left corner there is an embroidered stained-glass window.
Melissa Calderón. Villa Nueva (I'd still be Puerto Rican Even if Born on the Moon), 2024. Hand embroidery on Linen, 24 x 24 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.
An embroidered sunset/sunrise peaking over a green fence by a sidewalk.
Melissa Calderón. Coming Soon, 2023. Hand embroidery on Linen, 16 x 20 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.
Straw-colored embroidery thread outlines the shape of an older style of house next to the full color embroidery of a newer styled house. There are palm trees surrounding the houses and a red sun above the houses.
Melissa Calderón. El Tiempo Muerto, 2023. Hand embroidery on Linen, 24 x 24 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.
From the artist - "The sculpture features an empty “Abuelo” (grandfather) chair- the type a grandfather might use in Puerto Rico, reminiscing and telling stories filled with history and wisdom which represents Clemente in his retirement, had he lived. A heavily burdened grove of overgrown sugarcanes surrounds the chair - representing the hardships Clemente and his family faced working in the sugarcane fields, a common experience in the colonial history of the Caribbean."
Melissa Calderón. Para Roberto, 2019. Bronze, 8 x 12 feet. Image by Matthew Lapiska.