Mike Adams

I am an artist, educator, theorist, and activist living in the Seattle-area. I have been a practicing visual artist for almost 40 years. I consider myself to be an “art generalist” because I like to make things, and I do not consider any particular medium to be superior to another. In addition to teaching and art making, I am a PhD Candidate in Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Art Theory through a low-residency program with the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts. I received a Fulbright Creative Art grant to Norway for the 2011-2012 academic year. My goal there was to investigate the concepts of voyages and migration. The culmination of my project was a sculptural installation at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. At the same time, I began my foray into ceramics.
I live in the small town of Darrington, Washington, USA, in a mountain valley north-east of Seattle. Originally, I was a painter, then about a fifteen years ago, I made a serious "plunge" into 3D work. Initially, my paintings and sculptures were inspired by the scenic beauty of western North America. Now I am exploring more figurative work, much of it inspired by art history and the history of objects, not just observation.

I received my MFA in sculpture from Idaho State University in 2011. I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1986, and have exhibited professionally since 1988. I'm currently earning a PhD in Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Art Theory at IDSVA.