ABOUT - BIO & CV

Leavenworth WA-based artist Michelle Anderst creates detailed oil paintings which serve as an emissary for the natural world and are inspired by untouched wilderness and complex ecosystems. Her lush depictions of fungi, plants, insects, moths and microscopic organisms illuminate the intricate beauty of a world often overlooked. These curious-looking organisms intersect with archetypal geometry and describe the illusory divine formula of underlying evolutionary growth patterns. Each painting is created with intention, esoteric magic systems and spell work in servitude to the natural world. 

Anderst exhibits internationally in several galleries and has been a featured artist and live painter at numerous art and music festivals including Cascadia, Sonic Bloom, Imagine , Lucidity and Lighting in A Bottle. Most recently she was invited to speak at Imagine Convergence Conference on Orcas Island, WA was included in the Goodwitch/Badwitch exhibition at Museum of Museums in Seattle and was featured as a guest artist at renowned visionary painter Alex Grey's COSM in New York. She studied classical painting at Southern Oregon School of Fine Art and received her certification in Natural Science Illustration at University of Washington.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Art Galleries and Museums

Natura Illuminata, Studio 601, Seattle 2023
Confluence Gallery, Twisp WA, 2017, 2018, 2023
Garden of Celestial Spheres, Mortlake & Company
Good Witch Bad Witch, Museum of Museums, Seattle 2022 

Lumen Naturae (solo), Collapse Gallery, Wenatchee WA 2020 

Cascadia & Beyond, Ghost Gallery, Seattle WA 2020

Queen Cell (solo), Mortlake & Company, Seattle WA 2020
Pareidolia, Antler Gallery, Portland OR, 2019 

SPECTRUM (solo), Mortlake & Company, Seattle, 2018 World of Emanations, Mortlake & Company, Seattle, 2017 Venus, La Bodega Gallery, San Diego CA, 2017

Seven (solo), Ghost Gallery, Seattle, 2016
Strange Paradise, Axis Gallery, Seattle 2016
Human Nature, Artifact Gallery, Seattle 2016 

Ophiucus, Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts, Seattle, 2015 

Sea Affaire II, Piranha Shop, Seattle, 2015

Principia Alchemica, True Love Gallery, Seattle, 2015
Drop by Drop, Bherd Gallery, Seattle, 2014
The Big Sleep, Confluence Gallery, Twisp WA, 2014
Fauna & Flora, Axis Gallery, Seattle WA, 2014
Ex Libris, Axis Gallery Seattle, WA, 2014 

Garden of Your Mind, The Hive Gallery, Los Angeles, 2013

Natural Science, True Love Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2013
Odd Birds, Tasty Gallery, Seattle WA, 2013
Spirit of Observation, Russell Day Gallery, Everett, WA, 2013
Small Works, The Hive Gallery, Los Angeles, 2012
Contained, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA, 2012 

Wunderkammar, True Love Gallery, Seattle WA, 2012 

Gifted, Bherd Gallery, Seattle, 2011
Form & Fancy, Twilight Artist Collective, Seattle, 2011
Scientific Illustration Exhibit, The Burke Museum, Seattle, 2010
Isolated Narratives, Arts West, Seattle, 2009
Aqua Art Miami, La Familia Gallery, Miami, FL 2009
Glass & Solitude, La Familia Gallery, Seattle, 2007

Festivals (Live Painting and Art Gallery)

Relaxpansion, Ashland OR, 2022
Imagine Art and Music Festival, Orcas Island WA, 2017-2019, 2023 

Imagine Convergence Conference, Orcas Island WA, 2019
Sonic Bloom Festival, CO 2018
Arise Festival, CO, 2018
Lightning in A Bottle, CA, 2018
Lucidity Festival, Branches Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA 2017
Cascadia Art & Music Festival, Granite Falls WA, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 

Erotic Art Festival, Seattle, 2015, 2019

Murals

Private residence, Leavenworth WA 2023

Snowgrass Lodge, Leavenworth WA 2019

Exhibitions in Other Venues

Symbiosis, University of Reading Herbarium, UK, 2014

Imagining Science at the Herbarium, British National Science Week, Reading UK, 2013

Small Voids street insallations, curated by Todd Jannausch, Seattle, Portland, Oakland, 2012

Blog Features and Publications

Radarstationart.com, 2020

Phantasmaphile.com, 2017

WOWxWOW, 2017

Seattle Squared, publication featuring 32 PNW artists, 2016

It’s Okay to Be Smart, Blog Feature, Joe Hanson- biologist, science writer and PBS television

host, 2014

Divine Inquiry, Juxtapoz Magazine Blog Feature, 2013

Look Up Here: 5 years of NW Urban & Contemporary Art, Book Publication, Bherd Gallery,

Seattle 2012

Eye on Seattle,  Juxtapoz Magazine Blog, 2012

An Elegant Collection of Data Points, Street Anatomy, 2011

Residencies

Australia Painting Residency, private collector, 2018, 2019

Live painter at Alex Grey’s COSM, NY, 2018

The Good Supply Artist Residency, Pemaquid, ME, Oct 2014

Burke Museum Scientific Illustration internship residency,  under Rod Crawford-resident spider specialist,

2011

Education

Natural Science Illustration Certificate,University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 2011

Gage Academy, Expressive Figure Painting with Barbara Fugate, Seattle WA, 2009

Gage Academy, study abroad in Paris and London with Gary Faigin, 2004

Southern Oregon Art Academy, classical painting and drawing, Medford, OR, 2003-2005