Eggs

If you follow Melan on Instagram or peruse her Etsy, chances are you've seen her growing collection of ceramic eggs. There are hundreds of them: bright, delightful, sunny-side-up eggs. 

You might be asking yourself, what is going on with these eggs?

The answer is simple: Melan hates eggs.  

It all started when she was a kid. Her family watched PBS cooking shows every Saturday morning while they ate breakfast together. Like most kids, Melan ate what she loved first while ignoring what she dreaded. As her options dwindled and the eggs became the only thing left on her plate, she dreamed they would attain sentience. She imagined them asking to be excused from the table and was happy to oblige. 

For Melan, eggs were the dreaded vegetables of breakfast food: always on your plate whether you want them or not. They were gross, but gross things are good for you, and apparently, you're supposed to care about that when you're seven years old. Buckle up, buttercup! These disgusting eggs are good for you!

This was the weekly breakfast standoff: mom vs. Melan vs. eggs. 

Every Saturday morning, Melan would remind her mom that eggs are horrible and gross, but her mom would make them anyway. But she would pair them with something good like pancakes or biscuits, and Melan would watch cooking shows while happily devouring everything except the eggs.

But eventually, the terror would set in. Her sister and brother would be excused from the table, and Melan would be left alone, anxiously poking at the last thing on her plate. She would sit so long that her dad would change the channel to golf. 

This was the apex of her breakfast misery: cold eggs and golf.

Though she recalls a few instances when her subtle manipulations won over her distracted dad, she cannot recall a single instance of actually eating eggs on a Saturday morning. 

To this day, Melan doesn't know how she made it through. But by her account of the Saturday standoff, she was the last one standing. 

Okay, it is feasible that Melan has some egg-related trauma, and perhaps she talks about it in therapy. But is this why she makes hundreds of ceramic eggs? Her therapist thinks it's probably related. But there's more to it. 

Hatred is a passionate and powerful emotion. Melan is drawn to the things she hates the most. 

Though she will never eat eggs again (yes, she's tried -- they are still 100% gross), she loves how they look. Though icky, there is something brilliant and extraordinary about an egg. 

This brings us to the Eggsibition: Melan has challenged herself to fill a small room with a rampant infestation of ceramic eggs to recreate the Saturday morning scene of her childhood. This is her vision:

Picture a small room. In the center, a cast iron pan sits atop a mountain of thousands of ceramic eggs. Eggs will crawl out from the pan, up the walls, and to the ceiling. 

They will hang down and clink together like the most annoying and eerie mobile nobody has ever wanted. This is precisely what nobody has ever asked for. 

The tireless process of producing eggs continues as Melan shops for a suitable space for this installation in a Bay Area gallery. Her therapist approves: Melan needs help. 

Do you want to get involved? She'd love your help!

Connect with Melan melanmadethat@gmail.com