Mehgann Maiellano

I lived tucked away in the rural stretches of Western New York, surrounded by open fields, gravel roads, and the slow rhythm of small-town life. My art grows from this landscape — the quiet spaces, the chipped paint, the light that falls across a faded porch late afternoon. Through photography and mixed media, I try to capture the feeling of living in between — between what’s been lost and what still lingers.

I studied graphic design and photography before becoming a psychiatric nurse, all of which have shaped how I see the world. Design taught me to notice balance and form; photography taught me how to be slow and appreciate noticing the environment around me; nursing taught me empathy and patience. These lessons meet in my art, where each image becomes both composition and conversation.


Artist Statement

These photographs explore the thin line where humor and eeriness converge. A ghost — no more than a sheet and sunglasses — wanders through forests, fields, and forgotten places. Its presence is absurd and playful, yet undeniably haunting. At first glance, the figure disarms us with its simplicity; look longer, and the quiet unease of its solitude begins to surface.

By placing this figure within rural landscapes, the work asks how the ordinary can transform into the uncanny. The woods, paths, the gravesite — all hold histories, memories, and echoes that suggest more than what meets the eye. The ghost becomes both an intruder and inhabitant, embodying the unseen stories that linger in familiar places.

The tension between comedy and the spectral reflects how we often navigate mystery: with laughter, with unease, and with recognition of the strange beauty in not knowing. These ghosts are not meant to terrify, but to invite reflection on presence and absence, on what remains and what drifts away. They remind us that the uncanny can be tender, humorous, and deeply human.


Instagram: @mehg81