Michela Martello - Ancestor Upper Trail

2021, Clay, ceramic, gold leaf, moss, 7 x 8 x 4”

Most of my work is connected with the idea of intimacy, I have strong visions, some in my dreams and some while awake, these visions comes from within me, persist, push and push, until I find the appropriate support mostly made of vintage materials ranging from Japanese textile to US military canvases, linen, embroideries, papers, woods. I am inspired by eastern philosophical symbology that I re-elaborate and by an imagery from Mediterranean basin that belongs to my culture of origin, often with a spiritual and decorative dimension. I believe I need to express my profound intimacies without actually revealing them, or rather what I would like to reveal with my work is the mystery of intimacy. I exploit nature and animals, feminine energy, and ritualistic objects, symbols which carries magic and mysteries, opposite cultures and religions to recreate in every single piece a small unique parallel universe with a new language that speaks to the collective unconsciousness.

About the Artist:

Born in Italy, studied Illustration at IED, European Institute of Design, Milan. Martello was illustrator for children books for 10 years dividing her time between Milan and London and from 1993 focused her research entirely on painting, integrating with ceramic more recently. She lives and works in BK, N.Y. In 2006 she was selected by the American Association of University of Women in the “Emerging Women Artists Juried Exhibition” N.Y. Design Center. In 2014 she was one of the winner for Understanding Media the Extension of Human Being, Exhibit at B.O.S., BK. In 2019 she received the Merit Honor Prize, From Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan City Government, Taiwan, for her Art residency's Installation Everything Has A Vortex at Siao-Long cultural park. Her work has being collected by; Andrea Soros collection, MAAM museum permanent collection, Tainan Museum of Modern Art. In 2017 she has her first solo at Pen+Brush, NYC and in 2020 she is selected for New American Painting, #146, juried by Jerry Saltz. Michela collaborates with Pen&Brush NYC, Parlor gallery NJ & galleria Giovanni Bonelli Milano.