ARTIST STATEMENT
Michelle Renee Hoppe, or Shelli, is a chronically ill, autistic Boricua who was raised in Japan. She is an author and an artist working in neurodiversity research, mixed media, paint, design and sculpture. Her work blends the fields of science, botany, and luxury recycled materials. Her spiders are in conversation with Fernand Deligny’s spider webs, which were graphs of autistic children movements in an alternative therapeutic and play-based setting in France. Deligny was one of the very first champions of what we call neurodiversity today. Autism was seen as any other way of being, not as a disorder. I seek to excavate this series more with an 8 by 12 foot orange spider installation in a major museum paired with Deligny’s spider webs. These spiders were our first ones made in conjunction with Nick Cave’s generous donation of luxury faux fur from the MCA gala and recycled Swarovski crystals for the eyes. They are named for muppets and famous fashion designers. We hope you enjoy them as much as we have. Michelle loves to work with her kiddos with disabilities in her private school teaching job. She bring humor and love to her work, always. She loves to laugh, love, play and make. She hopes you love, laugh, play and make these spiders your own.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Michelle Renee Hoppe is earning an MPS in UX Design following a BA in English. Her essays and poetry appear in The Massachusetts Review, Saw Palm, South 85 Journal, and Litro, among others. Her visual work is scheduled to show in Fringe! and Fresh Mochi Gallery. Her installations merge humor and lived emotional truths through color and sparkles. She aims to subvert notions of able and who is capable. She is disabled, queer, nonbinary, and Latinx. She was raised in Japan. She seeks opportunities to collaborate with artists whenever possible and considers collaboration its own art.
© Shelly Hoppe