From an early age Michaela took classes at The Art Academy in St. Paul, MN, focusing on watercolors and pen-and-ink illustrations. Her paintings took home ribbons at the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 Minnesota State Fairs, each in their age category. In 2014 Michaela was a National Finalist for Editorial Cartoon of the Year, on behalf of the MN State High School Press Association. By graduation, she had also designed 20 t-shirts for school clubs and events.
Beyond drawing, Michaela became a well-versed seamstress through self-study and her Mom’s instruction, and she went on to study Apparel Design in the University of Minnesota’s College of Design. While there, her work was exhibited in the 2017 Patagonia ‘Worn Wear’ Sustainable Fashion College Tour, the 2017 ‘Instinct’ U of M Apparel Design Fashion show, and the 2017 ‘Imprints’ Student Design Showcase with the Weisman Art Museum.
After two years, Michaela decided to step away from her formal studies and traveled to Buenos Aires for Spanish language learning, also bringing along her sketchbook. She traversed Argentina and Chile for eight months before returning to Minnesota and becoming a freelance costume technician for VStar Entertainment Group, a division of Cirque du Soleil.
Last fall Michaela transferred to the SMFA at Tufts University and is now concurrently pursuing a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in a self-designed Interdisciplinary Study that intersects Environmental, Cultural, and Visual and Critical studies.
Artist Statement:
For a long time I focused on investigating the environment which is most immediate to our bodies, thinking of the textiles we clothe ourselves in daily and how they come together to weave a greater social and cultural fabric. After formally tackling this inquiry through the study of apparel design, I was led to experience cultures beyond my own through language development and travel in South America. Finding myself in Boston now, the investigation has translated to exploring environments both inside and out of the body. A consideration of the resources, both human and natural, used for textile production now looks at the cultivation of food—an even more basic human necessity that we not only know internally, but have developed the knowledge to implement globally.
How do we relate to these many environments today? What impacts do our bodies have on the greater Earth body? How do we communicate across this anthropological tapestry? It is questions such as these that I seek to address in my work, from its research to realization. As it grows, and myself along with it, I hope not to work in isolation, but to engage others and share in relating to these vast environments.