"Melissa Sarat paints the life force in the heart-breaking world of animal and
vegetal forms; her works actually breathe, they have a pulse!"
Andrei Codrescu

“Dear Melissa, I am overwhelmed!~ Your paintings are a statement of total affirmation, just wonderful. You have definitely found your voice.  I am not sure how you get all that information to work, but you do. Your use of the major triad serves you well. It looks like the work of a healthy and percolating soul. The word protean creation comes to mind.”  Ed Pramuk, Professor Emeritus, LSU Baton Rouge

"Navigating the lushly chaotic labyrinth of imagery in Melissa Sarat's colossal and explosively colorful oil paintings is like playing I Spy, or stumbling upon Dionysus' forbidden garden party. The packed picture planes are inhabited by the unmistakable abundant flora and fauna of her Louisiana childhood home, as well as masked and costumed individuals who combine themes of power and madness (the artist was raised on the grounds of a mental institution). Sarat's feral characters, which she describes as "fierce guardian archetypes," possess a certain knowledge behind wild eyes, and symbolically combine mystical religious influence with her concern for the harm we cause to the environment and our own health."
 Published by Rebecca Rafferty on Jul 16, 2008
Rochester City Newspaper, Rochester, NY