Melanie Hiller creates opportunities for people to express themselves in a safe environment. Her pieces are low tech and revolve around the expressions themselves as opposed to focusing on individuals or stories. She is inspired by humans and their innate drive to communicate. She find that by producing a basic framework and allowing some autonomy, people are excited for an opportunity to express their thoughts, feelings or motivations. Her works are made from familiar materials and require participants to become engaged for the piece to have impact. She began her own public expressions in January of 2012 with her blog groundup which now has over 13,000 reads.
With I’m Sorry Hiller allows participants to write an apology letter that is then verbalized by another, unrelated participant so that none of the participants feel self-conscience. Anonymity is provided by the random nature of the apology’s order submission and reading.