Melyssa Beshara

Melyssa Beshara is a ceramist in Cleveland, Ohio. Her focus is on hand building with pigmented stoneware clay, exploring how colors and pattern interact on 3D forms using the process of nerikomi. She chooses vibrant color in her daily life and artwork as a means to fight back against trends pushing society to accept beige and gray as default. She has shown work in group exhibitions at the Sullivan Family Gallery at Bay Arts in 2025 and 2026.


Artist Statement

Color and light are integral to my mental health. Gray days zap my energy and leave me feeling depleted. A sunny day revives me. Vibrant color energizes me. These pieces came to be during the coldest, darkest parts of winter in Ohio when the gray sky and gray slush enveloped everything. The news was heavy as we descended further into fascism. Holding the grief of it all while having to face day-to-day life as a mother remains disconcerting. Having a way to plant my own metaphorical flowers, despite the growing conditions, delights me.

The colors I choose are quite cheerful, and the loud patterns bring the sense of whimsical energy I crave. My process involves using colored stoneware clay to build the design into the object itself. This hinges on letting go of a degree of control, so seeing what wild patterns emerge along the way feels like unwrapping a gift. These little joys buoyed me through a very hard season.

My goal in creating these was to shine a joyful feminine light into the emotional and physical darkness of a long winter full of worsening political tensions while we waited to hear if our voting rights would remain intact. I particularly like the way the patterned surface reflects onto the mirrored light bulb and surrounds the viewer’s own fisheye-distorted reflection, incorporating the observer into the piece itself.

Strange beauty for strange times.


https://www.melyssabeshara.com/