HEMPHILL is pleased to share a recent interview with Melvin Nesbitt Jr. through Canvas Rebel. Melvin's solo exhibition will open at HEMPHILL is September 2025.
Melvin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
For years, I’d been taking painting classes and painting, with very little success. In an attempt to improve my paintings, I began making small collages of them first, to work out color and compositional issues, before painting on the canvas. I enjoyed the process and results of my collages more than painting. When I was invited to participate in a group show at DC Arts Center, my sister-in-law (and close friend) had just passed away. I was grief stricken and could not focus on painting so I decided to try to make a big collage instead. The process of collaging felt right for this moment in my life because I was hurting, feeling broken and fragmented.
I cut all of the pieces really small then meticulously placed them until I’d finished this meditative process or way of working. It was the first collage piece I’d shared publicly and, to my surprise, it sold on opening night! This gave me a huge confidence boost and I realized I had found my “Lane.”