Nathan Meltz uses collage, printmaking, animation and other graphic arts to comment on the infiltration of technology into every facet of life, from politics and food to family and war. In his visual vocabulary, the contemporary world of nanotechnology and genetic modification are retrofitted with images of analog mechanical parts. Nightmarish industrial creations are set against pictures of grand mechanical constructions to create an off-kilter vision of technology.
“I create narratives and relationships between mechanical humanoids and automated animals,” said Meltz. “Through these tales of love, violence, and circuit boards, I alert the viewer to the inevitable robot invasion, and prepare them to resist.”
Meltz's current research investigates the intersection of technology and fascism, exploring and interpreting seminal anti-fascist American art from the 1930-40s.
Meltz’s solo exhibitions include Southern Illinois University’s Vergette Gallery, GRIDSPACE (NYC), the University of Jacksonville, Florida’s Andrew Brest Gallery, and Noise Gallery in Ohio. His work has shown internationally, at venues including the International Print Center New York, the Miami Fountain Art Fair, the IN Graafika Festival, Pärnu, Estonia, the Trois-Rivières International Printmaking Biennial, Canada, the Museum of Modern Art in Rio De Janiero, Brazil, and others. His work has been featured in the publications Paper Politics, Sociological Images, Printeresting and the Mid America Print Council Journal. Meltz is the founder and curator of the East Coast Screenprint Biennial.