About
Artist Statement
I examine historical and ecological links through intersecting narratives, language, paper and print. Much of my work concerns the crossroads of human political actions and ecological systems, and how social and environmental justice often go in unison. Many of the narratives I explore have a duality or interconnection of ideas: the crossroads of politics and the environment, colonialism and natural history, wordplay, migration, vegetation, and hidden truths.
My work takes the form of installations, sculptures, prints and artist books, all made from handmade paper I make myself. This paper is typically from invasive plants I harvest, using my studio practice as a means of clearing habitat space for native plants and wildlife. This paper becomes both substrate and content, and I see it as a means of allowing plants to speak for themselves in issues regarding both the environment and social justice.
Using handmade paper as a foundation, my work becomes an exploration of the human-nature interrelationship. Handmade paper, made from plants, evokes its origins. Marks made on such paper suggest the human hand, and by extension, the human presence. Thus, by making marks on handmade paper, either through drawing, printing, or shaping the paper, the intersection of humans and nature occurs physically as well as metaphorically in my work.
Though I honor handmaking and traditional techniques, my work is not that of the craft world. I position myself as an experimental contemporary artist, and as such engage with important and current global dialogues. Through a multifaceted use of narrative, I aim to capture the moments when history transcends into myth, and the defining moments of epiphany, to reveal previously unconsidered connections and viewpoints. By enabling my viewers to make associations between themselves and the issues that I explore, I hope to encourage social and environmental change.
Biography
Michelle Wilson is a papermaker, printmaker, book and installation artist. Her works are in various collections, including Yale University (New Haven, CT), the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, DC), and the Jaffe Center for Book Arts, (Boca Raton, FL). She has been featured in exhibitions at numerous institutions, including the X Initiative in New York, NY, the Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts, the 2006 International Biennial for the Artist's Book in Alexandria, Egypt, and at the Joshibi Art Museum outside of Tokyo, Japan. Her extensive teaching experience includes Bryn Mawr College, Moore College of Art and Design, the University of the Arts, the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, Appel Farm Arts and Music Center, and the Kala Art Institute. Wilson has a BFA from Moore College of Art and Design, and an MFA from the University of the Arts. Her imprint is Rocinante Press. Formerly a longtime resident of Philadelphia, Wilson has recently relocated to the San Francisco Bay area.
CV available upon request - contact the artist at michelle(at)michellewilsonprojects(dot)com.
To read about current work in progress, please visit the Rocinante Press blog.
To read reviews of her work, or learn of current exhibitions, please visit here.
Public Collections:
Print and Picture Department, Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Education Collection, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington DC
Franklin Furnace Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Permanent Art Collection, Miami-Dade Public Library, Miami, FL
Art of the Book Collection, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Mediatheque Andre Malraux, Strasbourg, France
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
The Newark Public Library, Newark, NJ
Sherman Art Library, Darthmouth College, Hanover, NH
The Bibliograph Collection, Montreal, Canada
Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, WA
President Happy Fernandez, Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA
Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt
Enders Ornithology Collection, Watkinson Library, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
Special Collections, Amherst College Library, Amherst, MA
Booksmart Studio, Rochester, NY
Hill Memorial Library, Baton Rouge, LA
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
The Arthur and Mata Jaffe Collection, South Florida University, Boca Raton, FL
The Garthwaite Institute for Art and Science, Cambridge School of Weston, Weston, MA
Ruth Hodges Artist Book Collection, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
Special Collections, Virgina Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA