Raiment Painting

Born and raised in Hawai‘i where she lives with her husband and son, Melissa Chimera (b. 1972) is a descendant of Filipino and Lebanese immigrants. She studied natural resources management at the University of Hawai‘i, and has worked as a conservationist since 1996. Chimera’s mixed media paintings and installations are research-based investigations into species extinction, globalization and human migration. Her work implies a nebulous sense of belonging—for both marginalized humans and species alike—akin to the absence of a permanent homeland and the impoverishment we face by their erasure.