Biography -
Michele Rushfeldt is a visual artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Her three-dimensional work focuses on materials associated with sexuality and kink, and depicts how observations of fringe eroticism feel and look. Centralizing the viewer, the work incorporates them as a watcher of its activity; as part of the experience, emphasizing the performative aspect of the works. The idea of performativity becomes emphasized by spot-lighting, as well as installation decisions, such as leather couches and proximity to the works themselves. Originally from Minneapolis, MN, she obtained her BFA in painting from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, then her MFA from Pratt Institute. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including galleries in California, Washington, D.C., and New York.
Artist Statement -
My mixed media works represent over-performative bodies, depicting a variety of elegant, glittering, dripping, and twisting sculptures and panels - characters in the midst of their sexual ‘acts.’ Materials take on a dominant role. Latex, rope, harnesses, steel, fabrics, and paints create dimensional forms that feel and look like the materials they employ: Stretchy, tense, balancing, caked with glitter, bulging, and translucent. I embrace the humorous and peculiar aspects of exhibitionism, suggesting skin, bodily fluids, and voyeurism. Each piece or grouping encapsulates a tense balance, with harder materials hanging on softer ones and a dependence on the architecture for submissive support.
Michele Rushfeldt is a visual artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. Her three-dimensional work focuses on materials associated with sexuality and kink, and depicts how observations of fringe eroticism feel and look. Centralizing the viewer, the work incorporates them as a watcher of its activity; as part of the experience, emphasizing the performative aspect of the works. The idea of performativity becomes emphasized by spot-lighting, as well as installation decisions, such as leather couches and proximity to the works themselves. Originally from Minneapolis, MN, she obtained her BFA in painting from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, then her MFA from Pratt Institute. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including galleries in California, Washington, D.C., and New York.
Artist Statement -
My mixed media works represent over-performative bodies, depicting a variety of elegant, glittering, dripping, and twisting sculptures and panels - characters in the midst of their sexual ‘acts.’ Materials take on a dominant role. Latex, rope, harnesses, steel, fabrics, and paints create dimensional forms that feel and look like the materials they employ: Stretchy, tense, balancing, caked with glitter, bulging, and translucent. I embrace the humorous and peculiar aspects of exhibitionism, suggesting skin, bodily fluids, and voyeurism. Each piece or grouping encapsulates a tense balance, with harder materials hanging on softer ones and a dependence on the architecture for submissive support.