My interpretation of homeostasis went in a personal direction. I scanned various pages from my diaries, starting from the earliest one I could find, (4th grade), all the way to the present. These passages represent my struggle to adapt, survive, and thrive in different stages of my life. The pages are collaged together to form a background for the appropriated dictionary image "Girl Chinning Herself". This girl represents the universal challenges women must face in an often hostile and threatening world, their ability to overcome them and triumph.

Melissa Harshman received a BFA from Cornell University and a MFA from the University of Wisconsin. The artist is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia. Harshman has exhibited in numerous solo and two person shows including: the 1999 Boston Printmakers North American Print Exhibition; The Southeastern Printmaking Invitational, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, NC; Contents and Contexts: Lithography After 200 Years, Academy Art Center, Honolulu, HI; and Recent Works-Melissa Harshman, La Casa Municipal de Cultura, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.

Harshman has visited , demonstrated and lectured at such schools as Vanderbilt University, University of Missouri, University of Georgia and Anchor Graphics in Chicago. Her work is in numerous public and private collections including The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; The Georgia Museum; Milwaukee Art Museum; and The Southern Graphics Council Archive. Harshman has received numerous grants and awards in the field of digital and mixed media printmaking.