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Melanie Elyse Brewster (b. Miami, Florida) lives and works in New York City, where she is finishing her MFA at the School of Visual Arts (SVA). Brewster’s interdisciplinary art and scholarship focuses on coping with stress--informed by surreal, campy aesthetics that center craft, costume, and performance to destabilize and queer identity. Her work addresses the peculiarities of spirituality under late-stage capitalism, creating faux ‘wellness’ practices via fiber, collage, and assemblage.

She previously earned her PhD from the University of Florida in 2011 and is a licensed psychologist and professor at Columbia University in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology. Brewster has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and a book, Atheists in America, on experiences of marginality in the United States. Her research has been featured in media outlets such as CNN, NPR, Vice News, and the CBC, while her art has been exhibited nationally.