Michelle Bird

Michelle Bird

Borgarnes, Iceland

About Michelle Bird

Hot lava pours into the sea, volcanic glass fragments mix with black sand beaches - as a young child Michelle Bird stood at the edge of strong cultural tides, inheriting her Chinese artist father's classical eye and her Western mother's courage with bold architectural form. Described as "tactile and erotic," abstract expressionist Bird's paintings radiate the fusion of cultures and colors. Michelle Bird came early to her love of color as she leaned barefoot into the ocean wind hunting for the last subtle green flash in her Hawaiian sunset. When her family moved to California she added the texture of old growth Redwood forests, San Francisco fogs, plump grape vines and desert silt. Her paintings reflect a wide palette of almost Baroque colors. "I paint fervently for long intervals," says the artist, "as if I were walking blindfolded through nature, feeling the color with my skin." Her art has been shown in numerous exhibitions in Europe and in the United States including the Borgarfjardar Museum in Iceland, Galerie Cècile Charron in Paris, Galleria del Arte Ill Milennio in Venice, and Galerie Mainau in Zürich. In 2003 she has won a nationally juried exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center in Sacramento, California. In 2012 she was selected for and completed the Artist in Residence fellowship at the Baer Art Center in Iceland and participated in the Artist in residence program at the Association of Icelandic Visual Artists center SIM. In 2015 & 2016 she exhibited portraits of Borgarnes residents at the Borgafjordur Museum. Bird's work is represented in private and corporate collections in the United States, Switzerland, France and The Netherlands, including those of Axa Winterthur and SEC Communications.

Education:

2012 Iceland The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists Artist in Residence
2012 Baer Art Center Hofsos, Iceland Artist in Residence
2001-2004 Internship Anton Martineau, The Netherlands
2001-2002 Rietveld Art Academy, The Netherland 2000-2002 Schildersatelier Van Vlaerken, The Netherland
1999 Honey Arts Modeling, India Internship bronze casting technique "the lost wax method"

Events:

PRIZES
01-2017 Ljósmyndasamkeppni Borgarfjordur Museum
06-2016 Karolina Funds Recipient, Iceland
04-2016 Grant Uppbyggingarsjóðs Vesturlands, Iceland
05-2003 First Prize of Nationally Juried Exhibition, CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER SACRAMENTO USA

Exhibitions:

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
04-2016 Doxa Design Lab, Tampa, Florida, USA
03-2016 Borgarfjordur Museum, Borgarness, Iceland
01-2015 Borgarfjordur Museum, Borgarness, Iceland
03-2012 Zürcher Kantonalbank, Winterthur, Switzerland
05-2011 Galerie Thomas Bäni, Winterthur, Switzerland
03-2011 Galerie Cécile Charron, Village Suisse, Paris, France
03-2010 Hotel Eden, Arosa, Switzerland - Objects of Desire
10-2009 AXA Oerlikon Investment, Winterthur, Switzerland
03-2009 AXA Winterthur, General Guisanstrasse, Switzerland
11-2003 Art & Fashion Gallery, KWF, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Nothing Butt
03-2003 Depot Gallery, Mill Valley, USA - Allegoric portraits in oil
01-2001 Gallery Sijben en Vriend, Amsterdam The Netherlands

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

02-2017 InGenio Arte Contemporanea, Turin Italy
01-2017 Borgarfjordur Museum, Borgarness, Iceland
11-2016 Stedje Brewery, Iceland
01-2015 Listasalur Mossfelsbaer, Fluxus Design Tribe, Iceland
12-2013 SIM, Aðventusýningin, Reykjavík, Iceland
11-2013 Dagur Myndlistar 2, Reykjavík, Iceland
09-2013 Open Doors Event, Winterthur, Switzerland
08-2013 Arion Banki Menningarnótt í Reykjavík, Iceland
05-2013 Eullachhalle, Winterthur, Switzerland
04-2013 Schloss Mörsburg Winterthur, Switzerland - M13 - Kunst um Schloss
09-2012 Kulturschiene, Herliberg, Switzerland - Mother & Daughter Duo
06-2012 Baer Art Center, Hofsos, Iceland
05-2012 X-treme Lab, Antwerp, Belgium
03-2012 ARTseefeld Galerie, Zürich, Switzerland
12-2011 Oxyd Kunstraume, Winterthur, Switzerland
06-2011 AXA Winterthur, Paulstrasse Winterthur, Switzerland
09-2011 Open Doors Event, Winterthur, Switzerland
05-2011 Villa Mainau 34, Zürich, Switzerland
01-2010 Utopia, Outside-Inside, Altestadthaus, Winterthur, Switzerland
09-2010 Open Doors Event, Switzerland
08-2010 Orangerie, Switzerland - Sexibition Inhale Exhale
05-2010 International Artists , Outside Inside, AWC Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland
03-2010 International Women’s Day Exhibition, AWC Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland
05-2009 Eullachhalle, Winterthur, Switzerland
01-2010 Heimat, Outside-Inside, Altestadthaus, Winterthur, Switzerland
12-2009 Preview Kunsthalle Frauenfeld, Frauenfeld, Switzerland
10-2009 La Galerie Artmonti, Ile St-Louis, Paris, France
09-2009 Open Doors Event, Winterthur, Switzerland
02-2009 Innsbrucks Annual Contemporary Art Exhibition, Austria
01-2009 Le Club Orangerie, Rozenthal, Switzerland
09-2008 Open Doors Event, Winterthur, Switzerland
06-2008 Gallery Birds Eye View, Switzerland
04-2008 Mainau 34, Zürich, Switzerland - Mother and Daughter
01-2008 Galleria del Arte Ill Milennio, ART & EROS, Venice, Italy
12-2006 Gallery Birds Eye View, Switzerland
06-2006 Gallery Birds Eye View, Switzerland
05-2005 Art & Curiosities Auction KWF Vught, The Netherlands
04-2005 Hotel Eden, Objects of Desire, Arosa, Switzerland
07-2004 Gallery Walls, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
06-2004 The Paint Factory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
05-2004 Art & Curiosities Auction KWF Vught, The Netherlands
06-2003 Cafe Get Down, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Mural
03-2003 Galery De Pomp, Warmond, The Netherlands
12-2002 ABC Treehouse Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
05-2002 Gallery Retort, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - India day & night
06-2001 Cafe Harlemmer, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
04-2000 The Jolly Joker, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Mural