STATEMENT:
At the core of my practice is the body itself—employed as both subject and tool. Through direct impressions of my breasts, torso, legs, palms and creases, I leave physical traces of gestural mark-making, that become intimate records of lived experiences.
I approach the body as a landscape and terrain to be explored, where memory, sensation, and the unconscious surface through material and form. These impressions exist between abstraction and figuration, holding tension between presence and absence, concealment and discovery.
Influenced by Jungian philosophy, particularly shadow work—the integration of hidden and unconscious aspects of the self—my practice engages with the unseen and unspoken. I am interested in how trauma, belief systems, and inherited narratives become embedded in the mind and body, shaping both limitation and resilience.
Drawing inspiration from Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, I approach fracture as a generative force, where breakage is illuminated rather than hidden, and transformation emerges through repair.
Through this multidisciplinary practice, I create spaces for reflection and dialogue. Rather than erasing pain, my work seeks to integrate it, transforming scars into markers of history and growth. By embracing vulnerability, I invite viewers to encounter their own inner landscapes and consider healing as an ongoing, nonlinear process.
BIO
Mel Coleman (b. 1988) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto/Tkaronto, working across painting, drawing, and mixed media. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Studio Art with a Minor in Art History from the University of Guelph.
Coleman’s practice examines the intersections of memory, embodiment, and trauma, exploring transformation and materiality through an intimate and psychologically charged visual language. Her work is rooted in the body as both subject, site and tool, using her own form to imprint onto surfaces. She balances vulnerability with formal rigor navigating through the lens of beauty and somatic healing.
Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with presentations across Canada, the United States, and Costa Rica. Selected group exhibitions include Propeller Gallery, Red Head Gallery, Artscape Youngplace, Grimsby Public Art Gallery, and Neilson Park Creative Centre.
Coleman has participated in artist residencies including Spark Box Studio and has been published in Art Katalyst Magazine. She is a recipient of the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation Printmaking Prize.
Her public art practice includes large-scale commissioned murals, notably the Christie Pits Mural in collaboration with the David Suzuki Foundation and Blue Dot Org, as well as an extensive multi-mural installation at Merge Spaces, Scarborough, The Presentation Centre for Cliffside Condos, and multiple community murals for the town of Caledon.
CV
EDUCATION:
2006-2011: Bachelor of Arts (Honors) with a Major in Studio Art and Minor in Art History, University of Guelph, ON
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT :
2018: Mural Art and Career Development, Mural Routes, Story Arts Center, Centennial College, Toronto, ON
2013: SCS 2597-003 Conversations from the Toronto Art World, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
2012: 2597 – 002 Conversations from the Toronto Art World, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
RESIDENCIES:
2025: (Shortlisted) for LICHTUNDFIRE Summer Residency, New York, NY
2014: Spark Box Studio, Picton, ON, Feb 3-Feb 22
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2026: WHERE THE BODY SOFTENS, The Big Palapa (Private Residence), Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
2025: OPEN STUDIO, Unit 203 & OBJX 200, 100 Symes Rd, Toronto, ON
2017: WEST END ART & BREWERY TOUR, Junction Craft Brewing, Toronto, ON
2017: SEMANTIC CROSSROADS, Halo Brewery, Toronto ON
2015: REVIVAL, Loft Kitchen, Toronto, ON
2014: (UN)CURATED, 88 Cawthra Ave, Toronto, ON
2013: SHOOTING FROM THE HIP, 3030 Dundas St West, Toronto, ON
2013: CONDOSCAPES, The Brockton Collective, Toronto, ON
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2025: BE CREATIVE, BE YOU, BE ALL IN, Neilson Park Creative Centre, Juried by Kat Honey, Etobicoke, ON
2024-2025: ON PAPER, GPAG, Grimsby Public Art Gallery, Grimsby, ON
2024: ALL TOGETHER NOW, Curated by Lyla Rye, Artscape Youngplace, Toronto, ON
2023: ALL THE SMALL THINGS, Northern Contemporary, Toronto, ON
2022: SOMETHING CREATIVE, Bi Bi Baby, Space on King, Toronto, ON
2021: I AM MY ART, Space on King, Toronto, ON
2017:
HOLIDAY SHOW, Blackcat Gallery, Artscape, Toronto, ON
4”x 4” SHOW, HASHTAG GALLERY, Toronto, ON
ART AT THE LAKE, Stoney Lake, Douro-Dummer County, ON
PROXIMITY FINE ART GALLERY, Kawarthas, ON
WEST END ART & BREWERY TOUR, (Two Person Exhibition) Shacklands Brewery, Toronto, ON
FIX UP LOOK SHARP, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, ON
2016:
4”x 4” SHOW, HASHTAG GALLERY, Toronto, ON
JUNCTION ART CROSSING INAUGURAL EVENT, Toronto, ON
SLEEP ENVIE LAUNCH, 11 Duncan St, Toronto, ON
ART AT THE LAKE, Stoney Lake, Douro-Dummer County, ON
SCAPE, Super Wonder Gallery, Toronto, ON
2015:
ART AT THE LAKE, (Two Person Exhibition), with Lauren Satok, White Lake, Douro Dummer, ON
ANNUAL 4” X 4” SHOW, Hashtag Gallery, Toronto, ON
REVERSION, Super Wonder Gallery, Toronto, ON
ART AT THE LAKE, White Lake, Douro-Dummer County, ON
THE 16Th ANNUAL JURIED SHOW, Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre Gallery, Oakville, ON
THE BLACK CAT’S 2ND JURIED EXHIBITION, BE HERE NOW, The Ryerson Space at The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, ON
BEAN x, Hermann & Audrey Gallery, Toronto, ON
2014:
JOLT ART EXHIBITION, TAVES (Toronto Audio Visual Entertainment Show), The Sheraton Hotel, Toronto, ON
POP UP ART SHOW & AUCTION, 2925 Dundas West, Toronto, ON
BEAN ART EXHIBITION, Make Works, Toronto, ON
SQUARE FOOT SHOW, Artisans at Work Gallery, Toronto, ON
2013:
INFLUENCE TO EXPOSURE, (Two Person Exhibition) with Patrick DeCoste, The Brockton Collective, Toronto, ON
THE ANNUAL, SHIFTING GROUND, The Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, ON
THE COLLAGE ART SHOW, Steam Whistle Brewery, Toronto, ON
NO REGRETS, The Brockton Collective, Toronto, ON
10th ANNUAL JURIED PRINT SHOW, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
SEX SHOW, Gallery 1313, Toronto, ON
SMALL WORKS SHOW, Graven Feather Gallery, Toronto, ON
14th ANNUAL JURIED DRAWING SHOW, John B. Aird Gallery, Toronto, ON
2012:
INSOMNIA (redux),Nuit Blanche, Red Head Gallery, Toronto, ON,(provided work for collaborative performance piece)
THE BILLBOARD PROJECT, Quincy, IL
NOW PLAYING, Gallery 1313, Toronto, ON
THE EMERGING ARTIST SHOW, Gallery 1313, Toronto, ON
LIFE SERIAL, Propeller Gallery, Toronto, ON,
GUEST ROOM, with Art Barrage, p/m Gallery, Toronto, ON
2011:
DRAWINGS AND THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE DRAWINGS, Zavitz Gallery, Guelph, ON
WATERLOO ART EXCHANGE, Artery Gallery, Kitchener, ON
THE 43rd ANNUAL JURIED ART SHOW 2009, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
eBar SILENT AUCTION, Guelph, ON
GRAD LOUNGE, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
ANNUAL PRINT SHOW, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON
PRIVATE/PUBLIC COMMISSIONS, MURALS AND INSTALLATIONS
2025: Private Commission,
2025: Private Commission, Your Vision to Life, Site Activation with youth, Bathurst and St. Clair, Toronto, ON
2025: Woodland Aquarium, 1400 Dixie Rd, Etobicoke, ON
2025: Street Art Toronto, Cycle Barrier Program, Lansdowne Ave, Toronto, ON
2025: Street Art Toronto, Outside the Box, Select Ave & Markham Rd, Scarborough, ON
2025: Together We Build LGBTQ2S+ Mural, Early Grey Senior Public School, Toronto, ON
2025: Caledon Culture Days, Community Mural Part II, Town of Caledon, ON
2024: Caledon Culture Days, Community Mural: The Bedstraw Hawk Moth, Town of Caledon, ON
2023: Cliffside Condos Presentation Center Mural (Interior), 2223 Kingston Rd. Scarborough, ON
2023: Merge Condos Lobby Mural (Interior), 90 Glen Everest Rd, Scarborough, ON
2023: Eyes & the Toronto Skyline Mural (interior), Private address, The Junction, Toronto, ON
2023: Kids Seascape Murals (Interior), Private address, Richmond Hill, ON
2022: Plants and Urban Entanglements, Laneway W Dundas S Glenlake, Dundas St W. and Bloor, Toronto, ON
2022: Art & Water, Waterfront Chair Murals, 585 Queens Quay W, Toronto, ON
2022: Merge Spaces, partnership with Cesar Rodriguez, 11 Murals (Interior), 2229 Kingston Rd, Scarborough, ON
2021: Street Art Toronto, Cycle Barrier Program,Parliament and Richmond, Toronto, ON
2020: Portrait Commission, Mike Colborne, Thorsteinssons Tax Law, Toronto, ON
2019: Urban Jungle, Private address, The Junction, Toronto, ON
2018: Christie Pits Mural, David Suzuki Foundation and Blue Dot Org. Christie Pits, Toronto, ON
2016: Sleep Envie, Sleep Envie Launch Installation, Duncan St Toronto, ON
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS ASSISTANT WORK
2025: Jack Layton Ferry Terminal Mural, Fauxreel and Gabriel Specter, Toronto, ON
2025: LeuWebb Deck, The Bentway, Toronto ON
2025: Philip Cote, Thunderbird Mural, Nishnawbe Homes, Toronto, ON
2024: Philip Cote, 8th Fire Mural, Alexander Muir Public School, Toronto, ON
2024: Philip Cote, The first family, “First man and woman with son and daughter,” Park Lane Public School, Toronto, ON
2024: Philip Cote, Joeeda, Mississauga, ON
2024: Philip Cote, The Seven Grandfathers in Animal Form, Malvern Collegiate Institute, Toronto, ON
2023: Leeroy New, Balete Bulate Bituka (Installation), Beyond Concrete, The Bentway, Toronto, ON
2023: Double Happiness a collective including Architects and educators Joyce Hwang and Nerea Feliz, Multi species Lounge, (Installation), The Bentway, Toronto, ON
2023: Alex Sheriff, Bentempus Gardinus: A Long Exposure Ecological Portrait (Installation), Beyond Concrete, The Bentway, Toronto, ON
2023: Public Visualization Lab/Studio, Atmospheres (Installation), Beyond Concrete, The Bentway, Toronto, ON
2023: Philip Cote, Mohawk College Mural, Toronto, ON
2022: Philp Cote, Spirit of the Land Mural, West Toronto Legal Services, Bloordale, Toronto, ON
2022: Philip Cote, Toronto Zoo Mural, Toronto, ON
2022: Nelly Torossian, Bell Box Mural, Indian Rd and Bloor, Toronto, ON
2022: Nelly Torossian, Arts Etobicoke Mural, Etobicoke, ON
2022: Philip Cote, Steel Workers Union Mural, Etobicoke, ON
2022: Ken Gangbar Studios, Cruise Ship Installation, Toronto, ON
2021: Philip Cote, United Church Mural, Toronto, ON
2021: Philip Cote, Fire Council Mural, Toronto, ON
2021: Amanda Mc Cavour and Mural Form, Mandalas (Mural), Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON
2021: Philip Cote, Seven Grandfather Teachings Mural, Stephen Lewis Secondary School, Peel District, ON
2021: Philip Cote, Sacred Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers Mural, Red Door Family Shelter, Toronto, ON
2020: Philip Cote, CBC Mural, Toronto, ON
2019: Mural Routes, Legacy in Motion Mural, Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, Scarborough, ON
2019: Philip Cote, The Original Family Mural, Jarvis and Dundas Toronto, ON
2019: Anya Mielniczek, Go Hide Seek Art Installation, 1305 Dundas St West, Pop Up, Toronto, ON
2018-2019: Erin Rothstein Fine Art, Toronto, ON
2018: Will Lazos, Carpet Factory Mural Restoration, Fraser Ave, Liberty Village, Toronto, ON
2017: Philip Cote, Massey College Mural, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
2017: Ed Burtnsky, Will Lazos, National Holocaust Monument, Ottawa, ON