Melissa Allegories (She/Her)

Melissa Hernandez, known in the artistic realm as Melissa Allegories, is a dedicated visual artist and creative professional with a rich background in the arts. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, with roots in the Dominican Republic, Melissa’s artistic journey began in her formative years and has been a lifelong passion. Melissa constructs a fictitious world to communicate secular, ethical, and logical principles through storytelling arts. She blends creative writing with allegorical visual representations, emphasizing profound ideas and concepts. As the Founder of Smile Sweet Sunflower LLC, she fuses visual arts and literature, inviting exploration into a world where philosophical ideas come alive.

She completed her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art, focusing on drawing, painting, and printmaking, from Florida Atlantic University in 2011. Melissa graduated magna cum laude, with a general GPA of 3.5/4.0 and 3.7 in her major. This academic foundation allowed her to develop a distinctive artistic style characterized by its intellectual depth and aesthetic appeal. As a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), Melissa earned an Executive Leadership Certificate in 2022, demonstrating her commitment to fostering positive social impact and influential leadership in the arts through her Better World Projects.

Melissa’s professional journey in the arts has been both diverse and impactful. Through her company, Smile Sweet Sunflower LLC, she blends creativity with strategic vision to deliver projects that merge visual artistry with philosophical storytelling. Key initiatives, such as MelissAllegories and Eudaimonia, exemplify her ability to craft allegorical stories that explore profound human values and promote self-actualization and human flourishing.

Rather than focusing on nature versus nurture, Melissa’s work emphasizes our relationship with the biosphere (on, above, and below where all life exists) as an interaction between nature and nurture—a willingness and consensus between biological and environmental factors to sustain life. A balanced and harmonious relationship with the natural world as an essential element for human flourishing in the concrete world.