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Artist Exhibitions:
Solo Exhibitions
2008 Featured Artist /
Borders, Glendale, CA
Group Exhibitions
2008 New and Improved /
LACDA, Los Angeles, CA
2007 Small Wonders III /
Pharmaka Gallery, Los Angeles,
CA
2006 Sharing Space VIII /
Infusion Gallery, Los Angeles,
CA
2005 Small Wonders / Pharmaka
Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005 Show of Heads / Limner
Gallery, ...
Further Information
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Artist Reviews:
"Excellent work! Vibrant,
emotive, alive and powerful.
I find your work very
Zen...wonderfully serene and
reflective. There’s
translucence to them that
draws the viewer in deeply.
Superb work that has the
delicacy of a haiku yet the
energy of a firework
display...subdued yet powerful
use of color...
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Collections:
Tony Arias, Hollywood, CA
Chris & Angela Arnett,
Temecula, CA
Roy Arnett, Miamisburg, OH
Cathy Arnold, Dayton, OH
Judith Baker, Los Angeles, CA
Brian Beacock, North
Hollywood, CA
Brian Crawford, Columbus, OH
Stephen Fife, Los Angeles, CA
Gisele Frazeur, Sierra Madre,
CA
Leslie & John Gomez, San
Diego, CA
Shane Guffogg, Hollywood, ...
Further Information
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Commissions:
Coming Soon!
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Artist Statement for Michael Lightsey
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“Art making is an exploration of emotion, intellect, physicality and spirituality. It is a manifestation of the interplay between the conscious and unconscious mind. Human beings tend to have an inherent appetite for altered states of consciousness. Art can be a conduit for this kind of experience. It can help us to break free from the imprisoning models of reality that we create by our own minds. Art making is a way to experience a kind of freedom from the trappings of rational perception. It is a method for counter-balancing the restricting formalities of contemporary civilized existence. Ultimately, art is a metaphor for the spiritual and philosophical ideas of life that cannot be otherwise expressed.”
ABSTRACT PAINTINGS 2002–2008
These paintings are a re-examination of nature. There’s a psychological shift that occurs with abstract painting. It opens me up so that I may tap into the rhythm of everything around me. I become a kind of dance partner of nature. Together, nature and I, we create these rhythms, shapes and patterns in a visual and conceptual space. My earliest paintings depicted the rhythm of places and objects. This transformed into expressing the rhythm of the mind. The landscape became the realm of the unconscious perspective. Some of these paintings depict an emotional and psychological state of being, while others express a spiritual event or transformation. Later, the work became an attempt to depict the rhythms that exist beyond the psychological subjective point of view. The challenge then became how to rhythmically interpret the landscape of multiple dimensions of reality interpreted through the collective unconscious. Ultimately, I hope the viewer will allow themselves to reflect on how the work makes them feel by projecting their own ideas about its meaning and content. These pieces should be a screen onto which one can project their own experience.
DIGITAL PAINTINGS 2000-2008
I wanted to examine how digital painting is a reflection of evolution. Our current cultural landscape is inundated with the preoccupation of human augmentation. Humanity is being manipulated and modified at an exponential rate as a result of the advent of technology. Therefore, I’ve done the same thing with these paintings – a digitally manipulated and modified image of humankind. I’ve placed many of these pieces in the landscape of myth and legend. At the very foundation of human expression is the impulse to translate story. Myth and legend have evolved in unison with the evolution of the human race. Misinterpretation and distortion is often their result, creating an evolution of its meaning and substance for the purpose of individualized significance.
DIGITAL INTEGRATION PAINTINGS 2008
Having worked with both digital and traditional mediums for several years, I felt it was time to synthesize them together. The first half of this union started with a painting, completed with traditional mediums. The second half involved reversing the color palette digitally and selecting the right balance of color, shape and pattern to emphasize the amalgamation. The digital impression was then attached to the surface of the original painted canvas. Ultimately, the integration of these two mediums sheds light on the opposing characteristics of the mediums, and the contrasting techniques of painting that occur while creating this paradoxical union.
FIGURE DRAWINGS 1993-2008
Having worked as an actor, dancer and model I discovered truth's tendency to become clouded in the eyes of the beholder. What may appear blissful to the audience may in fact be painful to the performer. The viewer's experience often supplants the one being viewed, reducing the figure to a tool for emotional truth. These drawings depict expressive suppression - the perception of external calm amidst internal turmoil.
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