Michelle

Podgorski

Michelle Podgorski received her Master of Fine Arts degree from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Hartford. Her work focuses on the strength and resilience of nature despite human, animal or natural interference. Michelle has been included in numerous group shows at institutions like The Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC, Duke University and Boston University; as well as solo exhibitions at Wesleyan University, McKinley Arts & Culture Center in Nevada and the Fitton Center for Creative Arts in Ohio. In 2015, she was a grant recipient from the North Carolina Arts and Science Council, and participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Wild Acres Retreat in North Carolina, and the Wilderness Workshop in Aspen, CO. Michelle lives in Mebane and maintains an active artistic practice while teaching art at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Wingate University, and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

I am so impressed by nature’s resilience; specifically, a tree’s ability to thrive while growing bent, twisted, hollow and yet still reaching for the smallest bit of light. Of all the trees I have ever seen, the ones that stand out to me are not the straight and normal ones, but rather the trees that look like maybe they shouldn’t be as they are, ones that maybe should be cut down, ones that are so perfect in their imperfection. In my work I create fantasy worlds with trees that I have encountered, put in places that exist only in my imagination. Many of the trees that I paint have somehow been affected by animals or human hands. Our subtle interactions with the natural world are shown through my paintings as inspiration for resilience and strength.

Charcoal, Mixed Media, Watercolor/Gouache

https://www.michellepodgorski.com

@mpodgorskiart