Artist Statement:

In Glass Menagerie of Power, corporate men observe their perfected reflections, stripped of flaws, of agency, of humanity. The chrome-black mannequins in the background evoke a clone army mass-produced icons of strength, discipline, and dominance. The lone nude mannequin in the front, flesh-toned and centered, stands like an idol. The men outside aren’t just watching—they’re measuring. Measuring themselves. Measuring what the world expects of them.

The piece questions whether power is truly held or simply performed through proximity to ideals we never chose.

Hashtags:

#RhondaMelo, #Melora, #Melora<3, #MeloraArtist, #MasculinityCritique, #GlassMenagerie, #ContemporaryConceptualArt, #ArtOfReflection, #CorporateMasculinity, #WindowAsMirror, #CapitalismAndBody, #MaleGazeInverted, #GalleryNarrative, #VisualPhilosophy, #MannequinAllegory, #HypermasculineCritique, #PerformanceOfPower, #LuxuryAndLoneliness

Artist Statement:

“Ascension Protocol” is a meditation on the moment before transformation. The figure, cloaked in anonymity, walks a staircase that leads not upward, but inward — toward judgment, transcendence, or erasure. The spotlight from above is not mercy, but surveillance. What is ascended here is not the body, but its meaning. This piece asks the viewer: What remains when we remove the identity and reveal only the ritual?

Hashtags:

#ExistentialArt #LiminalSpace #DarkSurrealism #VisualRitual #DeathAsConcept #ShadowAndSymbol #StaircaseToNowhere #MinimalistHorror #SacredGeometry #MysticalRealism #ContemporaryConceptualArt