Melanie Elyse Brewster

Melanie Elyse Brewster (b. Miami, Florida) is a Greek-American artist, scholar, and practicing psychologist who lives in New York City. Brewster is a Professor in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Columbia University. She earned her PhD from the University of Florida in 2011 and her MFA from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in 2024.

Brewster’s interdisciplinary art and scholarship focuses on stigma and queer futurities—informed by surreal, campy aesthetics that center craft, costume, and performance to destabilize identity. She uses fiber, collage, and assemblage to create works that address wild, mythological manifestations of gender and sexuality.

Her research has been featured in media outlets such as CNN, NPR, Vice News, and the CBC, whilst her art has been exhibited nationally at universities and galleries such as The CAMP Gallery (Miami), The Invisible Dog Art Center (Brooklyn), and La Mama Galleria (NYC). Brewster has published over 70 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and a book, Atheists in America, on experiences of marginality and stress in the United States.

Recent art accolades include a solo presentation at Brazosport College, residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, VCCA and upcoming residencies at ChaNorth and Guttenberg Arts. She won the SVA thesis award for her parafictional work on Wolfmotherhood, as well as an Alumni Scholarship Award.