BIOGRAPHY
Michele Collier is a lifetime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area. and is considered a part of the on- going school of the now-famous Bay Area Figurative Art Movement as championed by David Parks, Richard Diebenkorn and Elmer Bischoff in the mid20th century.
The sculptors, Peter Voulkos, Manuel Neri and Stephen deStaebler also directly influence her work
Abstraction and arbitrary color are the hallmarks of her figurative sculptures.
Michele works exclusively with clayslabs because they encourage the “unexpected”, the fortuitous accident that can be seen as the subconscious speaking through the clay.
This method of working in the spirit is evident in all that she does. Even the application of color is given over to the spirit
After receiving her degree from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, Michele applied her knowledge of figurative art to clay sculpture. Countless hours spent working with live models allows her to sculpt easily from memory. She intentionally distorts bodies to give her pieces a unique sense of movement.
Having honed her style over two decades of clay work, Michele’s innovative methods give rise to towering slab work with no visible means of support. Her figures seem to take shape as if by magic, grounded in the texture of the clay while simultaneously lifting in defiance of gravity.