THE CABINET OF SELF

The Cabinet of Self, a collection of two installations of small works, Fuel For The Fire (Right To Left Leaning) and Persona-Rama! developed during lockdown in 2020-21.

Fuel For The Fire (Right To Left Leaning) was inspired by the artist’s fascination with how people began using their bookshelves as a proxy for personal presentation on Zoom and news interviews during the pandemic. Notably, the backgrounds became increasingly styled, and the books displayed having been obviously curated. Fuel is a collection of ten charity shop books ordered in a random job lot, the covers repainted to represent five social concepts arising from events in 2020, explored from opposing points on the political spectrum.

Persona-Rama! continues the theme of random association, exploring how identity is constructed with a series of 25 cards depicting qualities, values and objectives. Are we who we think we are, what others think of us? More concretely, is identity a product of our possessions, or perhaps our actions? Play Persona-Rama! and decide for yourself.

Private view 

Melissa Hill, with curator Sally Eldars, host an in-person Private View on Thursday, 24 June 2021. The location will be announced shortly before the event.

IG: @melissahillartist

Melissa Hill, born and educated in the United States, is a multimedia artist whose work explores human rights and politics. She has one degree from Sarah Lawrence College in New York, where she studied Economics and a second in visual arts from what was formerly known as The Cass in London. 

Following a number of years as part of award-winning research teams on Wall Street with JP Morgan and in the City of London at UBS Warburgs, she uses her financial research skills to understand how abuse of power and commercial markets perpetuate hidden suffering today. 

Cabinet of Self is a collection of work created during the Covid lockdown.