Michelle Zacharias

Born in Canada but currently residing in Japan.
As a visual artist, Michelle Zacharias always seem to be on the outside looking in. Is she now a Canadian artist or a Japanese artist? She works primarily in natural pigments such as dust, coloured pencil, photography, and mixed media.
Recent work shows the anthropocene and how dust is everywhere but affected in content and colour by individual environments and also how it affects colour in our daily environments. Why dust? Living and working in the shadow of a large chemical plant combined with winds bringing in "yellow dust" with attached particles of industrial pollution from China for many years resulted in allergies plaguing the artist throughout the year. Pollen from nature's flower and trees becomes an issue when covered in pollutants, and her artwork shows how that natural beauty might be sprinkled with spots of darkness that are partly natural and partly manmade. Dust sounds unappealing and ugly, but beautiful sunsets result from dust in the air. This dust becomes a natural pigment when traditional Japanese paint-making techniques are used. Black ink or coloured pencil can either spotlight or imitate the dust in artwork. In contemporary art, dust has been sprinkled in oth...

BFA (Honours) Printmaking/Drawing; University of Manitoba, School of Art, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Bye Bye 2020 (2020); Launch Pad Gallery; Yokohama
For Good Fortune (2020); Par-Art, Kyoto
Anthropocene (2019-2021); Cafe 104.5 (Blue Note Japan); Tokyo (mini solo)
Anthropcenic Matter (2019); Tana Gallery Bookshelf, Bigakko; Tokyo
Celebration (2015); Gallery Camellia; Tokyo
Chroma (2013); Konya 2023, Fukuoka City
Now Lounge Creative Community (2011); Fukuoka Now,  Hotel Il Palazzo, Fukuoka City