I live in New York City and have been making art for the past thirty years. Originally from Chicago, I have a B.F.A. in Painting from the Art Institute and a M.F.A. in Sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute.

I make oil paintings and works on paper. My work develops in series with one piece evolving into another. I use one image repeatedly for a long time, and this obsessive and narrow focus leads me to ever more expansive exploration.

In 2010, I received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award. Also that year: the Racine Art Museum acquired twelve of my works on paper for their permanent collection; a six piece paperwork installation was included in "Cut-Up" at the Islip Art Museum, NY; a paper collage, "Fingerprint," was in the international exhibition, "Brighten Life, Get Ahead," at Hana Gallery, Seoul, Korea.

Last fall, I was stranded in London due to the Iceland volcanic ash cloud. Walking by the Tate Museum, I was startled by the sight of some severely pollarded (pruned) London Plane trees. Their bare branches and stark shapes looked just like I was feeling and they became the subject matter of my current oil on paper works (I have submitted works from this series to the Art in Embassy program).

In 2009, I received a public art commission to make a permanent sculpture in Israel. In a park in the north, I created a standing figure made of hundreds of small mirrors that moved in the wind.

I had a large solo exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2007. The 3-month exhibition received a full-page review in The Sun-Times. Also that year, four of my paintings were in "Surveillance," at the Jersey City Museum, NJ, one was acquired for their permanent collection.

A monograph book, "Merle Temkin Portfolio Collection," covering twenty years of my work, was published by Telos Art Publishing, Brighton, England in 2005.

In 2004, my work is included in "Art on Paper" at the Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina and was featured in the catalog.

In 2002 and 2003, I was awarded residency fellowships at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT.

I received a Richard Florsheim Art Fund Museum Purchase Award for my diptych, "Couple," to be acquired by the Museum of Arts & Design, NYC in 2001.