Melissa Chandon considers herself an abstract realist painter. Her work could be best described as “Americana meets Pop Art”. Chandon works to create a body of work that invites one to consider the nobility that lurks just beneath the surface of common things, the very things are nothing less than incarnations of the American dream.

Chandon has found her voice through a process of analysis and reduction. She looks to a number of 20th Century painters, drawing inspiration from their imagery – the directness of David Hockney’s work of the 70’s, the romance of Edward Hopper, Wayne Thiebaud’s delight with color and surface, and the intriguing abstraction of Richard Deibenkorn.

Born as a child of the 50’s, road trips were of her parents’ passion. They saw the American landscape as a means of educating their five children – exposing them to the humanity of highways, small towns, truck stops, and KOA Kampgrounds all across the US. To this day, Chandon finds roadside culture fascinating – motels, amusements, neon signs – and feels it is important to document this era of U.S. history before it disappears.

“I’ve gathered my vision of Americana from across the country – from my early years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to working on the family ranch in the Sacramento Valley, and onto urban life in hope that sharing my view of the American landscape may help to bring about a conscious effort to preserve the shared heritage of our recent past.”