Michaela Kachmar is a Canadian artist, specializing in sculpture, painting and design. Her conceptual work follows themes of overconsumption, self-reflection, and a desire to return to childhood comfort.
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I am a multidisciplinary artist that seeks to make sense of myself through creating works that express my inner dialog. My work revolves around what my conscience is most concerned with. It reflects the world I have grown up in, and the world I am living in now. Through covering ideas of self-reflection and overconsumption, I reflect on society’s obsession with physical, financial or social appearances, and the effects of capitalism. These concepts dive deeper to themes of addiction, sensory processing and connection. I look to express my own polar emotions of anxieties and pleasures to the audience, and induce introspection.
I am inspired by the art of women from the past century. Pipilotti Rist was the first contemporary artist that opened my eyes to bigger ideas. Her use of colour and movement through the theme of a woman’s body in experimental video art inspired me to work with surrealist scenery in the beginning of my art studies. Her work encouraged me to move away from the traditional painting and drawing to three-dimensional works. Other artists that have inspired me include Shana Moulton, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Kiki Smith, and Dana Shultz.
My process begins through living my daily life, being affected by my environment, the internet, my peers and my family. My ideas come from memories or discussions which lead me to visualize an object or picture in my head. To jump back in time, I grew up as a quiet child, I had many images in my head and had a difficult time expressing them through words. With my artwork, I can express myself with a sense of confidence. My first step of transferring my ideas into art is to sketch, either digitally in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator, or manually in my sketchbook. I will also take pictures for reference either using and configuring my own objects and body, or using friends as models.
My work takes form in painting, sculpture and design, often using each other as a starting point. I use oils and acrylics, found objects, wood, wire, paper and more. My style is intentionally naive and less technical, as the childish look resembles the images that I visualize in my head. My intent is to learn more about myself while the audience learns with me. Trying to make sense of ourselves is only human, which I look to provoke through viewing, experiencing, processing and making art. I am currently working on the concept of human desire to return to childhood comfort through both textiles and sculpture.