Melinda Braathen b. 1985, Oslo (Norway) | Lives and works in Los Angeles (USA)

Melinda Braathen’s paintings explore the intersection of consciousness and its reciprocity with the natural world. There is a sense of uninterrupted time in her paintings, where a seemingly fleeting moment can unfold and encounter something more ancient, unfamiliar, sacred or uneasy. Braathen’s paintings create spaces where the boundaries between internal psychological states and external natural forces blur, advancing her inquiry into the concept of consciousness as a fluid state that extends beyond corporeal limits. Her paintings become somatic visuals and ontological maps where the body is no longer a discrete vessel, but a porous site of exchange.   

Melinda Braathen (b. 1985, Oslo, Norway) received a BA from Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY in 2007, and also studied at the New York Studio School in 2006. She lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Following a presentation at ART SG, Singapore (2025), Braathen is the subject of Baert Gallery’s solo presentation at The Armory Show 2026. Recent solo exhibitions include Soft Bodies, UCSB College of Creative Studies, Santa Barbara, CA (2025); Atmosphere, Baert Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2024); and Charged Bodies, Golsa, Oslo, Norway (2023). In 2027 her work will be included in a group exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Portland State University, Portland, OR. Her paintings have been featured in Hyperallergic, New American Paintings and The Light Observer, and are held in collections across the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Greece, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.