Missy Arellano

Missy Arellano
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

STATEMENT

Collaging began as a way to navigate the tangled labyrinth of physical and emotional hurdles. The meditative act of layering paper to create playful, surreal abstractions and narratives that surprise even me. Each collage feels like assembling fragments of forgotten dreams, transforming chaos into cosmic order.

I am a bibliophile with an affinity for rescuing discarded books and magazines from dimly lit bookstores and forgotten free libraries. These relics find sanctuary in my studio, only to be torn apart and reconstructed into otherworldly compositions. In my hands, women become larger than life, their bodies emitting radiant beams of visible light, reclaiming space once denied to them. For the past four years, I’ve been immersed in a series where paper dolls traverse celestial realms, inspired by a serendipitous encounter with a book on Space Art and how the United States commissioned artists through NASA’s Artist’s Cooperation Program to create art inspired by space in the 1960s. These paper dolls include illustrations of 1960s fashion, Frida Kahlo, and Alexander McQueen’s collections all drawn by the talented Tom Tierney.

My work challenges societal norms: Why does culture place such weight on women’s bodies? What narratives can we rewrite by reimagining these constructs? I delight in juxtaposing images that clash and complement, forging new visual stories from their tension. During my undergraduate years, I spent hours submerged in the darkroom, the scent of developer and fixer clinging to me as I emerged back into the light. That tactile magic continues to inform my practice, inspired by surrealists like Andre Breton, Frida Kahlo, and Hannah Höch. In the future, I aim to merge analog photography with collage in upcoming works, inviting communities of all kinds to co-create. Through workshops and conversations, I ask: What does a creative city look like to you? Together, we cut and glue it.

BIO

Missy Arellano is a transdisciplinary artivist whose work explores the ways Queer and disabled humans navigate the complexities of existence. Through analog collage & photography, she plays with paper to unfold and understand her dreams. Collaging is more than an art practice; it is a form of meditation, reflection, and creation, and a way to activate and amplify voices.

With over two decades of experience in the arts, Missy has contributed to a wide range of creative initiatives, including facilitating and designing children’s programming in museums, managing artists at festivals, fundraising for public television, and teaching young children and grown-ups about contemporary art. Her current work focuses on creative placemaking and inclusivity in public spaces. She hosts collage gatherings to foster dialogue on the intersection of community, play, and creativity. Through her collage practice, she prompts participants to envision, dream, and build more inclusive and vibrant urban spaces.

Missy holds a BA in Art History and French from California State University, Long Beach (2014), an MPA from the University of Southern California (2021), and an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education (2024). She creates, plays, and grows on the traditional and ancestral land of the Massachusett, the original inhabitants of what is now known as Cambridge, Massachusetts.

ARTIST CONTACT
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