Michele Kraft

medium: painting

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A Thousand and One Wonders 2003 Painting	Awakening 2003 Painting	Big Snow 1999 Painting
Chi 2003 Painting	Eminence 2003 Painting	Good Omen 2003 Painting
I Knew You Would Come 2003 Painting	I Know a Secret 2003 Painting	Michele Kraft Has a Posse 2003 Painting
Sunshine on Him Butt, He's Pretty 2003 Painting

Contact information
Artist resides in: Madison, WI
Email Address: talktome@michelekraft.com
Web site: www.michelekraft.com

Artist statement
The work begins in nature. Daily walks through the woods lead to the visual, emotional experiences central to my work. Removed from the white noise of modern human life, I tune in to the forest; the silent authority of the trees, immaculate perfection of the sky, the monumental overwhelming earth. I feel a presence here, or perhaps sense more deeply our immortal connection to the numinous in nature. More than recording the details of this tree or that moment in time, my purpose is to investigate and express our metaphysical connection to the inexhaustible, generous earth.

My painting technique is as much a subtractive process as an additive one. All images begin as a solid block of transparent color. As I work, I remove paint to reveal the image, quickly applying and wiping paint off until I see a reflection of my emotional response to the natural world. Transparency of materials, such as beeswax and oil paint, allow light to penetrate and reflect, causing the work to glow in a manner not possible with opaque materials.

Biography
Selected Solo Exhibitions
Commonwealth Gallery, The Gate, Madison Wisconsin, October 1, 2010
Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, Fur and Surfaces, Brookfield, Wis., 2007
Wisconsin Academy Gallery, Branches, Madison, Wis., 2003
Sun Room Café, Generous Earth, Madison, Wis., 2003

Selected Group Exhibitions
Curved 2, Madison Wis., 2007
The Overture Center, James Watrous Gallery, A Decade of Art, From the Wisconsin Academy Gallery, Madison, Wis., 2004
Commonwealth Gallery, The Summer Show, Madison, Wis., 2004
West Bend Art Museum, Small Scale Works of Art, West Bend, Wis., 2003
Around the Coyote, Chicago, Ill., 2003
Commonwealth Gallery, The Summer Show, Madison, Wis., 2003
Drive Thru Studios, Dark Spring, Chicago, Ill., 2003
Commonwealth Gallery, Wallpatch, Madison, Wis., 2002
Bayview Arts Tour, Milwaukee, Wis., 2002
Gallery 218, Milwaukee, Wis., Monthly Exhibitions July-October, 2002
Center for the Visual Arts, 12th Annual Midwest Winter Exhibition, Wausau, Wis., 2002
Dean of Admissions Invitational Exhibition, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1998

Education
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Ill., Bachelor of Fine Arts, 1999
Oxbow Summer School of Painting, Saugatuck, Mich., 1998, 1999
Towson State University, Towson, Md., Bachelor of Science in Fine Arts, 1996

Born January 18, Radford, Va.