Description
ARTIST STATEMENT
I make colorful, mid- to large-scale portraits of people in my community using a collage underpainting finished with oil paint to add detail and depth. Each portrait begins with layers — fragments of text, pattern, and image — that build the foundation of a face before a single brushstroke of oil paint touches the canvas. The result is a surface that rewards a long look.
I make this work to witness everyday people in the United States as they liberate and transform themselves during the country’s descent into fascism, and as they imagine a better future. These are not famous people. They are neighbors, organizers, elders, and dreamers — people whose stories rarely get told at this scale.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
I am a former scientist turned artist based in Oak Park, IL. After years of a self-taught art practice, I committed to and transformed my art practice via a formal art education that unlocked previously unknown passions and avenues for me. My artistic voice is rooted in both mixed media and social justice. Bringing together disparate parts into a recognizable whole is how my brain works as well as how my art practice works. My raw materials are magazines, books, and posters which form the basis of my portrait. Over that paper collage, I apply Old Master oil painting techniques to refine the image and add depth while still allowing the collage to shine. My interest in social justice is lifelong but was turbocharged after 2016. In the past 10 years I have completely rebuilt my life to live more authentically as an artist and abolitionist. I left my corporate life, changed my social circles, and most importantly have started the lifelong journey of decolonizing my mind.
© Michelle Major