Chemistry, a Triptych 2020

3 panels, 18 X24 in. ea

Mixed media, with beeswax, resin, pigment, ink, love notes, the periodic table, map remnants, and oil on cradled birch.

Chemistry is about desire, attraction, and lust--the kind that may or may not lead to love. The inexplicable, strange magic of attraction between two people. The butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling when sparks fly, when your heart skips a beat, and when you ache for kisses on your neck. 

Merritt transcribed love letters from the Lettres D'Amour Project, painting them in ink on tissue, after which she sliced them up and collaged the pieces on the surfaces of Chemistry, mixed with vintage papers, map fragments, and segments of the periodic table. 

A selection of excerpts of Love letters included in Chemistry:

"To my shallow lover and Peter Pan Spirit, please know that I honestly do love you. Yet your love flows to me like a broken current."

J. DiJulio

"So Joe, A singing waiter in a tux. I was so hungry for love, just a kiss on the back of my hand and I was butter."

L. Rose

"To my one-night-stand in Thailand: Hello there, lover from Amsterdam. I was determined to learn to ride a motorbike, and I took this adventure--and found you."

J. DiJulio

"Dear G, I will never forget the first time I saw you. I knew right then and there I would somehow find my way into your bed."

-Anon