Artist statement: Melissa Mitchell (b. 1996) is a visual artist from Johnstone, working across Glasgow and Renfrewshire. She graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in 2018 with a BA (Hons) in Communication Design, where her practice became increasingly lens-based. She is interested in both commercial work and pursing her own fine art practice. She is a member of both Fresh Focus at Stills Centre for Photography and the New Photographer's Guild based at Streetlevel Photoworks. Her work is heavily driven by narrative and she is interested in using process to further create meaning in her work. She often finds herself making work which is simultaneously autobiographical and sympathetic to the human condition. She is also fascinated by other people and how they choose to live. She is especially interested in material culture and social history and has found herself increasingly drawn to making portraits. She strives to make work that is honest in its depiction of the world around her.