Michelle McGrath

August 23 – October 19, 2019

Michelle McGrath incorporates rough textures and vibrant, high contrast colors in her paintings and mixed media works. She finds beauty and intrigue in the gnarled roots of a tree; the crumbling plaster on a wall; and the wrinkled, roughened hands of her grandmother. To explore these types of surfaces, her materials are distorted by twisting, ripping, and pulling the pieces apart. For instance, canvas is layered and stitched together in an uneven manner, with knots and lumps added to the distressed surface. She views these distorted, strained surfaces as different forces in her life that push or pull her in varied directions.

Her approach to compositions is playful and intuitive, letting them evolve, during her process. Sometimes, a gridded infrastructure or multi-piece presentation becomes a compositional element. This underlying framework allows her to organize her presentation as she gesturally applies marks and manipulates surfaces. Her paintings contain bold, complementary color palettes. She perceives dynamic color to have a virile quality that emanates a strong sense of purpose. She is drawn to the expressive qualities, and how they command attention from the viewer.

This exhibit will be in the Jane Sandelin Gallery.