Melissa Maddonni Haims

melissa maddonni haims is a mixed media fiber artist based in philadelphia. she explores alternative materials, mostly recycled, reclaimed or rescued, with knitted elements and found objects. her career in the arts began in new york city in the 1990’s, and life led her back home to philadelphia in 2004.

ms. haims was an active member in the highwire artists co-operative gallery during 2009 + 2010, associated with the northwest artists collective since 2008, and currently teaches children and young adults traditional handwork methods, such as knit and crochet, for the handwork studio of narberth, pa.

she is so pleased to announce her membership with 3rd street gallery as of november 2010.

melissahaims@gmail.com

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heaven

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heaven by melissa maddonni haims
prices vary per piece.

As you enter into this alternate cosmos, convoluted, cloud-like sculptures, stuffed with recycled fibers, hang from the ceiling. In this version of heaven, many of the sculptures are formed and named for those who have passed from this world to the next, including the artist’s mother, the catalyst for this project. Others have been commissioned to memorialize loved ones. These sculptures are organic and unconventional, not at all the predetermined forms associated and derived from faded stitchery pattern-books. Here we have rambling rows curling around into sensuous newness.

heaven (installation view)

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heaven by melissa maddonni haims
prices vary per piece.

This is a view of the installation at Highwire Gallery in November 2009.

yarn bomb at 15th + locust street

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yarn bomb by melissa maddonni haims
NFS

yarn bombing, also known as knit graffiti, is a public art form that has been spreading around the globe. i've been leaving these yummy blankets for telephone poles and cozies for parking meters up and down the east coast for about a year now.

yarn bomb on the 1700 block of e. passyunk ave.

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yarn bomb by melissa maddonni haims
NFS

yarn bombing, also known as knit graffiti, is a public art form that has been spreading around the globe. I've been leaving these yummy blankets for telephone poles and cozies for parking meters up and down the east coast for about a year now.

hell

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hell by Melissa Maddonni Haims
prices vary per piece.

These works are from a larger installation called heaven + hell.

hell

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hell by Melissa Maddonni Haims
prices vary per piece.

These pieces are from a larger installation called heaven + hell.

heaven + hell

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heaven + hell by melissa maddonni haims
prices vary per peice

Melissa Maddonni Haims worked feverishly for more than 2 years, knitting, crocheting, and stitching together a personal version of what heaven and hell might look like, constructed of yarn. This first took form at Highwire Gallery, in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia, in November, 2009. Since then, it has shown in a number of alternative locations and configurations. This image is from the installation at The Goggle Works Center for the Arts in Reading, PA, in 2010.

 

hell, in progress

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hell by melissa maddonni haims
prices vary per piece.

This image is of the artist in her studio working on multiple sculptures from the installation, heaven + hell.