Artist Statement:

In a world where anonymity is a virtue, one figure still dares to feel. The Only One with a Head explores the agony of remaining conscious within systems that demand compliance. The headless suits symbolize institutions dressed up, faceless, and devouring. The central figure, arms bound, gazes upward not in hope, but in surrender. His torment is not from rejection, but from being seen.

This is the pain of nonconformity in a world that only rewards silence.

Hashtags:

#RhondaMelo, #Melora, #Melora<3, #MeloraArtist, #SuitsOfConformity, #LuxuryCritique, #PainInPublic, #MaleVulnerability, #GlassAsPrison, #HyperCapitalism, #FashionAsControl, #WindowGallery, #CorporateCollapse, #BrokenElegance, #RetailSuffering, #PerformanceOfPower

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 — “Observation Deck”

This work examines the moment just before collapse—when the performance of order begins to crack, but the suit still fits.

Inside the glass, plastic men contort into expressions of resistance, agony, or obedience. They are dressed for labor but posed like sculpture. Some are bound, others mid-fall. It’s unclear whether they’re resisting a system or enacting it.

The man outside the observer is not immune. His presence completes the installation. He watches, but he does not intervene. In this world, detachment is both a privilege and a symptom.

This piece is about systems that parade collapse as display. It's about the cost of appearing composed. It’s about the mannequin that never moves, but still somehow screams.

#RhondaMelo, #Melora, #Melora<3, #MeloraArtist, #ContemporaryArt, #ConceptualArt, #GalleryArt, #ArtInstallation, #FigurativeArt, #DarkAesthetic, #MannequinArt, #NarrativeArt, #PsychologicalArt, #SurrealRealism, #PostCapitalistArt, #SocialCritique, #ArtOfTheDay, #EmergingArtist, #VisualStorytelling, #HauntingArt, #WindowDisplayArt, #PlasticMen, #FrozenCollapse, #CorporateDread, #PerformanceOfPower, #ArtCuration, #10kHourProject

Artist Statement:

In Fitting In, a suit is not just a garment — it is a transformation, an erasure, a demand. This image freezes the moment where the body ceases to be human and becomes architecture. The suited men observe a new form being shaped, or perhaps absorbed, into a showroom where flesh has been reduced to form, and form reduced to expectation. The act of lifting the mannequin echoes the quiet violence of assimilation — of becoming the thing expected of you in order to survive or succeed.

Hashtags:

#FittingIn #Melor #MelorArtist #Melor❤️ #RhondaMelo #StorefrontTheatre #BodyAsCurrency #CorporateConversion #MasculineMyths #LateCapitalismArt #PostHumanStyle #SurrealRetail #PerformanceOfPower