Breath Collage

Michal Durham Romero was born in 1983 in east Texas and has been drawing since the age of 4. Her creative approach derives from her intuitive sense of how she perceives her surroundings. She is influenced by Post-War American Counter Culture, nature, and individual spirituality. Michal's work combines multiple styles and media in order to unify the present with the past and dreams with waking life, thus, giving the overall effect of her aesthetic a dreamy, Surreal effect. She received her BA at the University of Texas from Austin in 2007 and her MFA from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2012, with an emphasis in drawing and painting. In 2021, after 7 years of teaching art at the college and high school levels, Michal is focusing solely on her artwork. She lives and works in Fort Worth, Texas. Artist Statement: I am interested in sentience. I create space using diagonals and geometric shapes to house specific imagery. Imagery represents memories, relationships, and dreams--both unconscious and conscious--visually set alongside one another. Abstraction and figuration exist simultaneously. Color creates mood and vibrancy. Layering indicates distortion and the effect time has on memory. Text lingers and interacts with the images, but it does little to lead one to one specific point of view or direction. I create in order to make sense of my own experiences, to process them, and to let them go. The viewer is invited to relate to each piece, acknowledge any sensation that appears within, and build their own experiences from my work.