Recently I finished a series of ten paintings. I began this body of work with the intent to make ten small, identically-sized paintings. I also wanted to work with a very limited palette to focus my efforts towards composition, not color. The 'under-drawings' and color palette were determined via a preliminary still life photoshoot of kitsch objects and studio supplies.

Rendered, Contained XI and Rendered, Contained X were accepted into the 2018 MassArt Auction, an annual event that raises money towards student scholarships and academic programs at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. All works were on view and open to the public at the Bakalar & Paine Galleries, Boston from March 29 to April 5. The auction took place on April 7, 2018.

DERBY: An Interactive Sculpture Raceway, on view at the Godine Family Gallery, Boston from April 9–14, 2017, riffed on the concept and competitive spirit of the Boy Scouts’ famous Pinewood Derby. Curated by Ian Gage and I, Derby served as spiritual successor to Putt Putt: A Playable Mini Golf Course, displayed in the Student Life Gallery a year prior. Emphasis on interactivity helped to set apart these shows from their counterparts. Artists created kinetic sculptures—be they car or anti-car—that gallery visitors could race along a custom-made, six lane, 34–foot long track bisecting the gallery. Also included were 2D submissions that addressed concepts of racing, speed, and competition, as well as murals of scouts gearing up for the derby.

A total of 20 artists created 37 cars, ultimately arrayed resplendent with all the fixings of a real raceway. Examples of cars included those made entirely of raw potatoes, an internally lit unicorn riding a cloud, a wheel covered in wheels, and an enormous Milk Duds box replica.

The reception on Thursday, April 13, 2017 featured an 11–heat bracketed tournament which determined the first, second, and third place champions. All the pageantry of a traditional derby, including a judge and parents of the entrants, made it a memorable night.

In 2016 I created a series of paintings about Twitch.com, a video live-streaming platform:

In March 2016 I participated in Putt-Putt, a group exhibition on view in the Student Life Gallery, Boston. The goal of this exhibition was to create a series of interactive sculptures that would collectively serve as a playable mini golf course. My contribution to this project was Golf Thoughts, an installation with a video projected onto the gallery wall, and several paintings installed on astroturf.

For the 2015 winter holiday season, I coordinated an art swap. All participants were tasked to make and/or send an artwork to thier assigned artist before January 1, 2016. As a gift to participants for their time and interest in the project, I created mixed-media works on paper that were sent to everyone.

T.A.C.D. are reflections on spontaneous glitches that occured for several months on my laptop.

Ian Gage and I produced a series of collaborations. The rules were as follows:

1) Participant One makes a mark or gesture of any kind on a surface
2) Participant Two responds by making a mark or gesture of any kind on said surface
3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 until both participants agree the collaboration is complete

All work by Melissa Krok-Horton is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.