Underdog Painting

Michele Tragakiss is an award winning abstract artist working in oil, and acrylic. Her layered, entangled works originate from uninhibited subconscious exploration, and reveal the inner dialogue between her lived experience, her insatiable curiosity, and her need to communicate through art. Michele was born in Los Angeles, California and has lived across the United States, and Canada. She received her BFA from Indiana University of Pennsylvania before completing a year of post-graduate studies, in affiliation with IUP, at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Michele is a third generation artist who was heavily influenced by her mother’s technical illustrations and paintings. She is drawn by both the structured geometric and linear elements of tech design, as well as the organic flow and intuitive movements that happen in abstract painting. In her words, “Running seven miles every morning keeps me connected to nature and the universe at large, and I believe that the mind and universe exist as a pair. This awareness is woven throughout my imagery and mark-making. The fractal branching of a tree, or the crack filler on a road are not represented as they are, but rather as subconscious interpretations that often intersect and engage with social and political issues that occupy my mental landscape.” Michele’s most recent series of paintings attempt to bridge the gap between the dream world and reality. Pulling from this otherworldly place, and using multiple layers of paint and glaze, a personal story emerges —a visual stream of her subconscious. “At the start of my work I spread paint in an exhilarating period of complete freedom, energy and expression. Moving paint around the canvas, I am guided only by my gut and instincts – one color guides another, one shape dictates the next. After this initial development the real work begins—the work of tearing down and rebuilding, and of unifying multiple visions so that there will be one coherent story. There is always struggle before the resolution but it is in the act of painting that a narrative emerges and perhaps even some meaning from this mysterious place.” Internationally renowned artist and photographer, Florin Firimita on Tragakiss’s works —“In a visual world filled with elevator music, Michele Traggakiss’s paintings make sensual, fresh, and mysterious sounds.