Melissa Joseph
Melissa Joseph‘s work considers themes of memory, family history, and the politics of how we occupy spaces. Working primarily with needle felt and found objects, she intentionally alludes to the labors of women as well as experiences as a second generation American and the unique juxtapositions of diasporic life.
Joseph received her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, her MAT in Art Education from the Rhode Island School of Design, her AAS in textile surface design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and her BA from New York University. She has undertaken residencies at Greenwich House Pottery Residency, New York; Museum of Arts and Dsign, New York; Archie Bray Foundation, Helena and the Fountainhead Arts Residency, Miami amongst others. She is the recipient of the 2025 UOVO Prize and was a Hopper Prize finalist.
Josephs‘s work is currently on view in her solo presentation Tender at the Brooklyn Museum.
Selected solo exhibitions include: Tender, Brooklyn Museum, New York, US (2025); no words, Soy Capitán, Berlin, DE (2025); A Wide Action is not a Width, Artpace San Antonio, US (2024); Art Production Fund Art in Focus, Rockefeller Center, New York, US (2024); Irish Exit, Margot Samel, New York, US (2023); Conflicting Truths, List Gallery, Swarthmore, US (2023); Née, REGULARNORMAL, New York, US (2021) and Fleisher Art Memorial, Philaldephia, US (2019).
Selected group exhibitions include: 00:00:01, Public Gallery, London, UK (2025); Poetics of Dimensions, ICA San Francisco, US (2024); Brooklyn Artists Show, Brooklyn Museum, US (2024); Recent Acquisitions Exhibition, ICA Miami, US (2024); British Textile Biennial, Whitaker Museum, London, UK (2023); Crisis of Image, Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, US (2023); (De)Framing Identity, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Utah US (2022); Wonder Women, Jeffrey Deitch, New York, US (2022); Felt Experience, Brattleboro Museum and Art Centre, Brattleboro, US (2022); Diasporic Rhizome, South Asia Institute, Chicago, US (2021); Held Dear, with Chelsea Nader, PAFA Museum, Philadelphia, US (2019); Immaterielle Häutungen, Lite Haus Gallery, Berlin, DE (2018) and the 78th Annual Juried Exhibition, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, US (2017).
Works
Melissa Joseph, Tender, Needle felted wool and recycled sari silk on industrial felt, 127 × 127 cm, Photo by Daniel Grier
Melissa Joseph, Thanksgiving 1986, 2025, Needle felted wool and recycled sari silk on industrial felt, 79 × 114 cm, Photo by Jessan Reece
Melissa Joseph, Geryon, 2025, Needle felted wool on industrial felt, 18.5 × 22 cm / 22.5 × 25.5 × 4 cm (framed)
Melissa Joseph, Scouring the shore, 2025, Needle felted wool on industrial felt in found metal light fixture, 50 × 50 × 5 cm
Melissa Joseph, Mom at the Roxy, 2025, Needle felted wool on industrial felt in vintage first aid box, 36 × 24 × 9 cm, Photo by Marwin Sanchez
Melissa Joseph, Phlegyas, 2025, Needle felted wool on industrial felt, 18.5 × 25 cm / 22.5 × 28.5 × 4 cm (framed)
Melissa Joseph, no words, 2025, exhibition view, Soy Capitán, Berlin
Melissa Joseph, Dark Woods, 2025, Needle felted wool on industrial felt in found cigarette box, found objects, 48 x 38 x 7.5 cm
Melissa Joseph, no words, 2025, exhibition view, Soy Capitán, Berlin
Melissa Joseph, Anatomically Correct, 2024, Needle felted wool on industrial felt, 122 × 91 cm
Melissa Joseph, Ursa Major, 2025, Needle felted wool and recycled sari silk on industrial felt with found ladder and bear, 18.5 × 25 cm / 22.5 × 27.5 × 4 cm (framed)
Melissa Joseph, Opportunists, 2025, Needle felted wool and recycled sari silk on industrial felt in found wooden ashtray, 5 x 12.5 x 10 cm
Uncle Bill and his midget whites, 2025, Needle felted wool on industrial felt in found silver plate, 43 × 43 cm, Photo by Jessan Reece
Melissa Joseph, Kadankavil Accordions, 2024, 11 × 22 × 17 cm, Photo by Mathew Sherman
Melissa Joseph, Art in Focus, in partnership with the Art Production Fund, 2024, exhibition view, Rockefeller Center, New York, US, Photo by Daniel Greer
Melissa Joseph, Art in Focus, in partnership with the Art Production Fund, 2024, exhibition view, Rockefeller Center, New York, US, Photo by Daniel Greer
Melissa Joseph, Art in Focus, in partnership with the Art Production Fund, 2024, exhibition view, Rockefeller Center, New York, US, Photo by Daniel Greer
Melissa Joseph, Art in Focus, in partnership with the Art Production Fund, 2024, exhibition view, Rockefeller Center, New York, US, Photo by Daniel Greer
Melissa Joseph, Joe‘s Pub, 2024, Needle felted wool on industrial felt in found steel, 20 × 5 cm, Photo by JSP Art Photography
Melissa Joseph, Art in Focus, in partnership with the Art Production Fund, 2024, exhibition view, Rockefeller Center, New York, US, Photo by Daniel Greer
Melissa Joseph, Art in Focus, in partnership with the Art Production Fund, 2024, exhibition view, Rockefeller Center, New York, US, Photo by Daniel Greer
Melissa Joseph, Onam Sadya at night, 2024, Needle felted wool on industrial felt, 53 × 64 cm, Photo by Joel Verges
Melissa Joseph, a wide action is not a width, 2024, exhibition view, Artpace, San Antonio, US, Photo: Beth Devillier.
Melissa Joseph, Kaipum Madhuravum, 2024, Needle felted wool on industrial felt, 150 ×91 cm, Photo by Daniel Greer
Melissa Joseph, A wide action is not a width, 2024, exhibition view, Artpace, San Antonio, TX, Photo: Beth Devillier
Melissa Joseph, a wide action is not a width, 2024, exhibition view, Artpace, San Antonio, US, Photo: Beth Devillier.
Melissa Joseph, 2 miles behind the chicken truck in Bentonville, AR, 2023, Needle felted wool on industrial felt, 154 × 109 cm, Photo by Paul Salveson
Melissa Joseph, Irish Exit, 2023, exhibition view, Margot Samel, New York City, US
Melissa Joseph, Road to Munnar, 2023, Needle felted wool on industrial felt, 155 × 109 cm, Photo by Paul Salveson
Melissa Jospeh, What we leave behind, 2023, needle felted wool and inkjet print on Indian duppioni silk, 107 × 147 cm
Melissa Joseph, Irish Exit, 2023, exhibition view, Margot Samel, New York City, US
Melissa Joseph, Wedding ablutions, 2023, Needle felted wool, Indian lace on industrial felt, 155 × 218 cm, Photo by Pierre Le Hors
Melissa Joseph, Irish Exit, 2023, 188 × 124 × 46 cm, Needle felted wool on industrial felt with found vanity and tchotchkes, Photo by Pierre Le Hors
Exhibitions
Press
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25 of 2025: 5 Groundbreaking Fiber Artists You Need to Know by Brian Boucher & Vivienne Chow, Sarah Cascone and Annikka Olsen
Artnet, 09/25
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Melissa Joseph Scales Up Poignancy in Public Spaces With ‘Tender’ by Elisa Carollo
Observer, 07/25
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Celebrating women's contribution to the arts at the Brooklyn Museum by Kay Angrum
NBC New York, 06/25
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Required Reading by Lakshmi Rivera Amin
Hyperallergic, 06/25
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Dantes Inferno in Bildern aus Filz by Felicia Okçu
Berliner Morgenpost, 06/25
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A giant mural is coming to the steps of the Brooklyn Museum this week by Laura Ratliff
Time Out, 06/25
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Melissa Joseph: On Memory, Material, and the Quiet Power of Resistance by Adukenle Oluwagbenga
Prazzle, 06/25
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Melissa Joseph: Weaving Tenderness Into Brooklyn’s Public Art Landscape by Kimberlean Donis
BK Reader, 05/25
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Zoll-Chaos verunsichert den Kunstmarkt by Luis Babst and Nathalie Daiber
Tagesschau, 05/25
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Gallery Weekend by Oliver Koerner von Gustorf
Monopol, 05/25
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The Art Podcast hosted by Enuma Okoro and Silke Hohmann, “Episode 4: Melissa Joseph”
Gallery Weekend Berlin, 05/25
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Soy Capitán: New Exhibition “No Words” By Melissa Joseph
B'Spoque, 04/25
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Das Beste zum Gallery Weekend 2025. 8 Ausstellungen, die ihr nicht verpassen solltet by Anna Meinecke
Gallerytalk.net, 04/25
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Hangama Amiri & Melissa Joseph at Cooper Cole
Artoronto, 04/25
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Die Bedeutung des Gedächtnisses by Laura Giudici
Stayinart, 01/25
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How Art Changed the Artist Melissa Joseph by Britt Stigler
All Arts, 01/25
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Felt portrait artist Melissa Joseph awarded UOVO Prize my Maxwell Rabb
Artsy, 12/24
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The Artsy Vanguard 2025: Melissa Joseph by Olivia Horn
Artsy, 10/25
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For Kerala by Meka Boyle
Family Style, 09/24
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Melissa Joseph Reimagines Artpace Residency as Large-Scale “Love Letter” to San Antonio, Texas by Gabriella Angeleti
Southwest Contemporary, 07/25
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Melissa Joseph at Liste Art Fair Basel 2024
Textile Society of America, 06/25
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Melissa Joseph’s First Public Artwork is at Rockefeller Center by Eliza Jordan
Whitewall, 03/25
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Melissa Joseph Has Captivated the Art World With an Unlikely Medium—Felting by Annikka Olsen
Artnet, 03/25
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Artist Melissa Joseph’s Felt Works Highlight Inclusivity and the Importance of Human Connection by Julie Smith Schneider
The Center Magazine, 02/25
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Art You Can See: Melissa Joseph's 'Irish Exit'
New York Public Radio, 11/25
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Edges and Pluralities - Melissa Joseph Brings Craft Into the Future by Annabel Keenan
Artillery, 10/23
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How Melissa Joseph’s Revived Memories Redefine Textiles by Maxwell Rabb
Artsy, 10/25
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Melissa Joseph by Max Lakim
Artforum, 09/23
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Artist Melissa Joseph Imbues Material With Memory By Grace Edquist
Vogue, 10/23
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Artist Melissa Joseph Uses an Unsung Medium—Felt—to Explore Big Ideas by Julia Halperin Sadaf Padder
Cultured, 10/23
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Melissa Joseph: D.C. Artist Making Waves in Global Art Market by Andrew S. Jacobson
Washington Informer, 07/23
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Melissa Joseph, tissage et métissage byMarie-Salomé Peyronnel
Le Monde, 12/22
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Melissa Joseph by Elisa Carollo
Fondazione Imago Mundi, 12/22
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Melissa Joseph: Née at REGULAR•NORMAL by Etti Yaniv
Artspiel, 04/21
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Melissa Joseph’s Felted Tributes to Family Archives by Billie Anania
Hyperallergic, 04/21
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Featured Artist Interview: Melissa Joseph
Heirloom Rugs, 06/2020