Mercedes Dorame is a member of the Gabrielino Tongva Indians of California. The artist draws from a deep well of personal experience and cultural tradition to create photographs, sculptures, and installations. During her residency at Vermont Studio Center as a Harpo Fellow, the artist used mixed media including photographs and found materials to create an installation that would be experienced during the open studio, stating “I wanted the viewer to have to duck and lean to navigate the red yarn and to lean down to really see the photograms and polaroids on the ground. I wanted the smell of the cinnamon to be part of the experience as well. The whole room was connected by the three red spools of yarn, and ended in that final meter square filled with cinnamon. It resulted from my thoughts about intersection, connection and randomness. In a strange way I tried to look scientifically through the meter square but what grew out of it, above and around, was messy and illogical and beautiful.”
Mercedes Dorame, born in Los Angeles, California, received her Master of Fine Art degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and her undergraduate degree from UCLA in American Literature and Culture. She has shown her work nationally.
