ABOUT - BIO & CV
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.
CV
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
CV
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