Melati Maupin
Q What do you do?
“I’m a lens-based artist in Richmond, Virginia, documenting the intricate entanglement of love and mourning within my relationships, both romantic and familial.”
A lot of my practice is me putting all of these love letters and feelings into what I like to call ‘artifacts’ that can immortalize the loves of my life. It’s all a means to cherish, mourn, and understand my experiences and others’. I went to multiple schools to study and am lucky to have learned to be a slashie since I began my practice. My practice involves photo, alternative printing processes, design, marketing, project management, and publication.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
My dad had always been the artistic parent growing up, and while they show their love and needs differently, expression has always been cradled by both of my parents. He’d help me with class projects, paintings and dioramas in elementary school. I knew I was going to be an artist since I was a child, simply because everything else made me feel either bored or suffocated. While photography was an elective in school for most people, I cared deeply for it and became close to my teachers. It was in high school when I really got into analog and printing processes.
In 2019, I moved to Chicago, Illinois to learn various studio arts in the city. I created a lot of mixed-media/material installations there, but I eventually left. It didn’t work for me. I think there’s a warmth I was looking for that just wasn’t fully present in Chicago. Much like any other major city for creatives, existing and making felt like a competition. It burned me out for quite a while because I mostly make work for myself. I felt a little bit without a community.
During the pandemic, I transferred to VCUarts to study photography, marketing, and some design. It’s been the best decision and I’ve been so much happier since. My environment changes along with my age and my experiences, and in turn the goals of my practice have changed. I’ll forever be a work in progress, but I’m getting somewhere and I like where I’m headed.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
I create romantically. I’m not necessarily doing something because of a passion or obsession with a certain field or reaching a particular goal. Rather, I only pick up or kickstart projects that I feel a genuine connection to. Obviously that can’t always be the way I create in terms of making a living, so when I’m doing editorial work for a magazine like interviewing jewelry artists and photographing their creations, I try to learn as much as I can about their life narratives and get a sense of them as human beings before I begin. Product photography in that sense becomes a lot more about the craft and collaboration of the artist and the piece from start to finish, rather than just trying to sell the piece.
Q What are you working on right now?
I’ll be graduating with my BFA in the late-spring of 2023, so nearly all of my creativity has been directed towards my thesis paper, and my thesis exhibition. I’ve been creating a carefully crafted collection of photographs that speak on the roles and routines that were present in my childhood and in the relationships between my parents, my sister and I – all through the lens of us each as aging adults.
There’s a comfort and safety that I’ve found myself trying to desperately hold onto, and I’ve been traveling home multiple times a month allowing myself to truly experience the time I have with my loved ones. There’s routines we had that were positive, and underlying feelings that were negative. I’m taking my time to address both.
Q What’s your style?
Here are a few projects of mine:
Shana Cave
One of another
I miss your physical being all of the time
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
I’d hire someone to develop and scan my film in a 1-day turn around. I actually have the equipment and chemicals to develop both b&w and color film in my apartment, but I’m so busy all of the time that my film rolls tend to sit in a drawer for weeks. Another thing would perhaps be applying to grants and residencies for me. That’s a huge thing that I let sit at the bottom of my to-do list all of the time.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Being a human being. Therapy is so essential to have throughout one’s life. It took a long time, but I’m finally getting in touch with someone now.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Since I'm pretty much a fresh graduate, I'm looking for any opportunity of growth and education in areas of my interest whether that be photography, publication, non-for-profit arts organizations, or acting as a production assistant/intern for either individual artists I want to learn from or bigger companies that share my values and curiosities.
I specialize in portraiture, but I'd love to dive deep into companies, brands, and crafts made by artists. I love hearing people talk about their passion projects in the arts, hence why I've been a part of many interview-based pieces in my editorial work.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
You can email me with an introduction about yourself, what you desire, and how you see my practice intersecting with your vision. I’ll usually do a bit of digging and web searching to learn about you and what you represent before I reach back out, but I’m usually relatively quick to respond.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Surrounding myself with the truest love.
This member profile was originally published in December 2022.