ABOUT THE ARTIST
Michael Fee is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, receiving his BFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He currently lives, with his wife artist Cara Moczygemba and daughter Arabella, near Indianapolis, Indiana, and works as an exhibit specialist at the Indiana State Museum, while finishing his MA in Museum Studies at Indiana University/Purdue University.

In New Orleans, he has exhibited his works at the Contemporary Arts Center, the Southern Repertory Theater and Tulane University's Theater program.  Additionally, he has shown at the Oceanside Museum of Art in Oceanside, California and at the Indiana State Museum. This is his fourth exhibition at the gallery.

HIS OWN WORDS
My art is an amalgamation of the human and animal figure, and the environment that serves to illustrate my surroundings and to show how interrelated and indivisible each one is from the other.

The imagery incorporated in my work is reflective of my fascination with society and how we adapt to our environment. The "Hart" or "Stage" figures serve to illustrate strength, bravery, and a pioneering spirit that still lingers in this culture. The "portals" often represent some type of transition or journey.  The "masks" represent all of our layers...the public, private and secret faces that appear at a moments notice, sometimes with a will of their own. These "masks" are our best and worst aspects... inseparable from the core of any individual.

I believe that each viewer brings something new and valuable to the art work...something drawn from the collective well we all share as a culture, and not something I can express in words. I am reluctant to part with every detail or symbol imbedded in the works...words filter in and out of my paintings, becoming another brush for me to paint with, a base to compose from, and as a texture to guide my hand.