| by Barbara Pavan | Melissa Zexter hand-embroideres photographs that she has taken herself. Her work combines a modern, mechanically reproducible medium with a traditional handcraft practice. Her research explores the three-dimensional dimension of photography while investigating themes such as memory and identity. Through the act of embroidery, Zexter transforms each photograph into a unique object that can no longer be reproduced, in contrast to the overwhelming proliferation of images in the contemporary era. Born in Rhode Island, Zexter lives in Brooklyn, New York. She received a BFA in Photography from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from New York University. She has exhibited internationally in both…