Bio

Mel Mandle (b. 2005) is an Appalachian State University BFA Studio Art candidate, with an expected graduation date of May 2026. Based in Boone, NC she practices painting, printmaking, and book arts. Her multidisciplinary approach explores how objects, interiors, and empty spaces can be charged with meaning and echo the past. 

Mandle has exhibited her work throughout North Carolina, including The Mint Museum (Charlotte, NC), The Schaefer Center, Appalachian State University (Boone, NC), and Looking Glass Gallery, Appalachian State University (Boone, NC). She recently collaborated with Dot Editions Studio in Asheville, NC to produce “Soar” (2025), an exploration in sculptural book arts and inkjet printing. Soar will be published by Dot Editions in the first edition of their magazine “ENGRANE”. Her work can be viewed at melmandle.com. 

Statement

I believe there is power in emptiness. My work explores the spaces and narratives left behind, and embedded in the objects around us. Chairs have been designed and reshaped to satisfy the needs of the human. Their utilitarian purpose gives them figurative qualities, even when a body isn't present. They sit idly and listen to a clamoring kitchen, hold clothes we haven’t folded, and sink into the earth after being discarded. Through photographic research I seek out chairs that create tension and emotion in the spaces they inhabit. Using paint to reimagine these scenes, my work captures the voices of chairs, as well as my own. Each brushstroke I make is a search for equilibrium between the conscious and subconscious. By working reactively, urgency and instinct override reality, blending visceral and emotional qualities.