ROCKPORT — The public is invited to the Marine Room of the Rockport Public Library to view a show of pottery and papercutting by Melissa Bryan. The exhibit entitled “Explorations of Shape” juxtaposes asymmetrical clay pinch pots with symmetrical papercuts.

“I have come to realize that in both media I am trying to capture momentary pulsations or pathways of energy,” says Bryan, in a RPL news release.
 
Bryan has been creating organically shaped pinch pots since the early 2000s.

“For me, these shapes represent both freedom and a way to draw order out of chaos in my attempt to create a sense of harmony and balance despite the irregularity of the forms,” says Bryan. She only began making papercuts in April 2024 but sees her new work as “early steps in what I hope will be a long journey exploring papercutting and ultimately also collage and painting.”

Melissa Bryan majored in psychology and then pursued a master’s and a doctorate in art history. She currently resides in the Midcoast and works part-time as a librarian at the Rockport Library.