Irrational Fear Of Confined Spaces 5 (Edition 4 of 7) Photograph

Bio: Melissa Mercier is a fine art photographer based in Vancouver, Canada. After a move from her native Québec to Toronto, Melissa then studied photography at Vancouver's Langara College and worked under photographer Anthony Redpath. Artist Statement: It's about control. Levels of perfection and imperfection are not acceptable in Melissa's world - immaculacy is the only option. Only through her photographs does she have complete control over finality. Ultimately her work is a study of her own personality. Somewhat of a claustrophobe and a self proclaimed obsessive compulsive, she photographs images that deal with our uncontrollable behaviour. These involuntary characteristics can be as simple as blinking or inhaling, but more specifically are those that manifest themselves as obsessive. Through her work she allows breathing room, as if to remedy the suffering while calling attention to the cause. She is not the least bit embarrassed about these personality traits, in fact she celebrates them. Not unlike Andreas Gurksky, Melissa's mission is a call to arms for all of the visually compelled and obsessed. "I hope through my images, people will find a positive solution" states Mercier.  In the series "Irrational Fear of Confined Spaces" Melissa carefully chooses her subject at a popular resort. Where Gurksky (Swimming Pool, Ratingen, 1987) or fellow Vancouverite Scott Macfarland (On the Terrace Garden, Joe and Rosalee Segal with Cosmos altrosanguineus, 2004) might choose to focus on the sociological, Melissa removes the human element completely and proves that a bustling shoreline can be conquered by calmness. In her series of self portraits she battles her darkest fear of stepping out from behind the camera and ventures into the snare of her own lens. Appropriately, each self portrait deals with a select phobia. She continues on a path of self discovery via the obscure and common threads that run through human psychology.  Melissa studied under Anthony Redpath, where her infatuation for straight lines and her plight for perfection were not only heightened but encouraged. Even her childhood helped form her thirst for the uniform as her father raised her in a strict world of alignment and order. Plans for her next series focusing on exquisitely manicured gardens have commenced where she will explore our obsession with taming our immediate surroundings, a first for Melissa to include other like minded perfectionists into her vision.