Melissa loves garbage. She likes to clean up the streets and make sculptures out of the junk she finds there. You get a sculpture AND a clean neighborhood. Melissa loves animations. She likes to make her animations out of stuff nobody wants anymore. You get an animation AND you’re not wasting anything. She is currently working on her thesis as a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design. It’s about trying to communicate serious subjects in silly ways. It’s about trying to illustrate that we all have a lot more in common than we might think. It’s about trying to become an active member in her community. Melissa has attended four colleges, and had five majors. She has worked for Comedy Central; she has worked as a dog trainer. Melissa has been a competitive diver, studied gymnastics, and ridden her bicycle across the country. Melissa recently got over her fear of the dark, but is still undeniably afraid of spiders. Melissa wishes there were more hours in the day, and absolutely more days in the weekend. Melissa has to go now; she put off her homework until the last minute.

2008