Michelle Fillmore American, b. 1993
Michelle's paintings are autobiographical metaphors that decribe her experience growing up with a mentally ill family member. She favors a tightly controlled photorealistic style at odds with the chaotic subject matter. Her work celebrates our ability to liberate ourselves from our own prison.
Michelle E Fillmore is a photorealistic painter based in the Bay Area. She grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada and started taking art classes at UNLV, where she discovered a love for oil painting. She then went on to study in Viterbo, Italy, where she apprenticed under the painter Federico Paris. Michelle graduated with a BA in Painting and Drawing from UNLV in 2015.
Michelle’s paintings are autobiographical metaphors that describe the struggles of growing up with a mentally ill family member. Her work aims to open up a discussion about mental health and point out its inherent stigmas and challenges. She favors a tightly controlled photorealistic style at odds with the chaotic subject matter; as such, her work embodies beauty in imperfection, suggesting that childhood adversities can ultimately be opportunities to grow.
Michelle Fillmore has exhibited throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and is currently represented by the Shoh Gallery in Berkeley, California and the Adele Gilani Art Gallery in Sausalito, California.
Solo Exhibitions:
- "Untethered: New Paintings by Michelle E. Fillmore", SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA, 2020
Group Exhibitions:
- "Halloween Opening Reception Featuring: Michelle E. Fillmore", Adele Gilani Art Gallery, Sausalito, CA, 2019.
- "The Summer Hang", SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA, 2019.
- "New Currencies", Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery at the Bank, Lafayette, CA, 2019.
- "For the Love of Art", Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette, CA, 2019.
- "3rd Annual Small Things", Jennifer Perlmutter Gallery, Lafayette, CA, 2018.
- "Extended Play:Vinyl Classics as Works of Art", Art Attack SF, San Francisco, CA, 2017.
Publications:
- February 2020 issue of American Art Collector
