Paula Menchen

Visual Artist

Threads

32" x 32”, 2019

Silkscreen, enamel, varnish and oil on canvas.


Layers of reds and blues are painted and silk screened on top. The mesh patterns and lines create a visual woven fabric with a glossy reflective finish.

Sakura Blossom

20” x 20”, 2022

Washi Papers, orizome flowers and collage on canvas.


Washi papers and canvas cuts are the main focus on forming the Sakura tree. In addition to Katagami Paper Lanterns and dyed and painted papers, these fragments when placed as a whole refer to the the mystique and beauty of Sakura as the bloom only last 1 to 2 weeks.

Fields, Blue and Green

32" x 32”, 2018

Oil, enamel, Fabriano print & collage on canvas.


The painting is made from an original print on Fabriano paper. Introducing the idea of printmaking into my painting. Cutting the print into small slivers deconstructing the pictorial field and creating a color fusion with oil and enamel paint.

Woodlands

32" x 32” , 2015

Oil, enamel and collage on wood panel.


Inspired by the woodlands, I incorporated collage and cutting into my paintings for the first time. The landscape painting that was oil and enamel became a physical and tactile process of painting.

Fields

The series Fields explores vast spaces and fragments through tactility and surface experimentation.


Azul

40” x 40”, 2019

Oil paint and encaustic on canvas.


Starting with a blank canvas I added different shades and layers of blues. Everything from indigo, ultramarine, prussian and cerulean blue with encaustic paint layering until there was a density to the tone and complete color saturation. I reconstructed the surface by using a grinder to cut away the pictorial surface, puncturing the pattern and letters of Azul into the back of the canvas then applying oil sticks and sprayed stencils. It was through the process of adding and subtracting surface that allows light to penetrate the canvas and creates a lively surface.

Spring Yellow

32" x 32”, 2015

Oil and collage on canvas


Created by mixed media enamel, collage and deconstructed etching from the Atlas print inspired by Springs first blooms the painting is offered to the viewer as an evocative and suggestive surface.  By constructing and deconstructing the pictorial plane I eliminate fragments emphasizing the tactile surface and transformative color palette.  

SELECTED WORKS

Click here for examples of my Prints, Mixed Media Paintings and Installations.

Any thoughts or comments, would love to hear from you.

paulamenchen@gmail.com

MIXED MEDIA

INSTALLATIONS

PRINTS

Blue Fields

40" x 40”, 2025

Building up layers of blue, dyed washi, papers and oil paint, blending Western and Eastern painting processes achieving a harmonious depth of blue, transparencies and movement.

Fields, no Borders

32" x 32”, 2018

“No Borders” etching edition of 10 collaged

Bruce Nauman´s “Body Pressure” poster with oil on canvas.


Despite the predictions of the emergence of a world without borders in the current climate borders are more prevalent than ever. With this painting I am investigating the intersection between art, drawing, painting and printmaking.

LA Unfinished Stories

48" x 48”, 2025

Mixed technique of collage, silkscreen, printed and dyed papers with oil and spray paint on canvas.


This painting was first conceived at the Otis Inaugural  Summer Residency in 2017. This piece holds  a lot of emotion for me. It draws from memories of graduating Otis Parsons in downtown Los Angeles right when the April 29th 1992 LA Riots broke out.