Michele Kishita is a Philadelphia-based artist who uses landscape as her primary subject. Her paintings are strongly influenced by the graphic stylizations and compressed spaces of Japanese ukiyo-e prints. Kishita’s paintings are in a number of private/corporate collections, including Toyota, Capital One, and Kaiser Permanente, and her work is featured in Create Magazine, on the Poetry Foundation blog, and the Studio Break and Thyme in the Studio podcasts, as well as in several literary journals. She has participated in artist residencies in New Mexico, Russia, and Iceland and exhibited at the Sharjah Art Museum in the United Arab Emirates and the Museum of Non-Conformist Art in St. Petersburg, Russia. Kishita received both her BFA and MFA in painting from the University of the Arts and is represented by James Oliver Gallery, Susanna Gold, and Carrie Coleman Fine Art.
Statement
My current work investigates the dialogue between the wooden surfaces on which I paint and the trees from which those panels were built. I highlight the interconnectedness of humans and nature, while addressing life’s impermanence and transience. The wood grain’s undulations, which mark the tree’s growth and annual water intake, record a tree's experiences and are a historical account of the landscape itself. In my paintings, I strive to conjure the landscape that no longer exists but is inherently contained in each panel while expressing the visual contrast and harmony where human-made structures and nature intersect.