Working from both photographs and memories frequently tied to her personal history in Utah and Montana, Price’s subtle brushwork transforms direct representation into ruminative portraits that allow for the permutations wrought by time’s passage on the vagaries of memory. Always dignified and often sensual, Price’s subjects have managed, however briefly, to escape the slipstream of duty and drudgery in favor of the kind of contemplative respite rare to contemporary life.
Melba Price was born in Texas and raised in Utah. She attended the University of Utah, Salt Lake City for her undergraduate degree and went on to pursue her MFA at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. She has exhibited nationally and been the recipient of many awards including the McKnight Foundation Fellowship and the Bush Foundation Fellowship. She currently lives and works in St. Paul, MN.
