Artist's Statement

Janella Mele is an international multimedia artist whose works and short films have been exhibited in Berlin, Mexico, Boston, the ICA, MFA, and Croatia. She studied animation at the Museum School of Fine Arts at Tufts and graduated with a BFA in 2018. Combining her training in animation with her practice as a professional tattoo artist, Mele considers movement as a generative force in every line and gesture. Her works channel the shifting energies of the subconscious, often realized through tattoo performances on her own body, live-paintings, and drawn animations. These acts become rituals of healing and connection, materializing her own emotional processes while inviting viewers to reflect on their own inner transformations. She has an art studio at Central Street Studios in Somerville and works as a professional tattoo artist at Hidden Vibes Tattoo in Cambridge.

Artist Statement: 

My practice navigates psychoanalysis and rehabilitation. I use animation, live painting, and self tattoo performance in order to invoke a sense of constantly changing emotional reactions and realizations. I’m interested in making something that summons a unified connection in the healing process of the subconscious by exploring my own.