Paintings and drawings echo in-progress sculptures
“For me drawing is about being directly involved in the process, the experimental nature of it. It’s more immediate than ceramic because you don’t have the mediation of the kiln. I can juxtapose color, see how different materials react to each other for different effect. Work on paper frees up my mark-making on the sculpture. It teaches me.”
Gregor makes a distinction between drawing from life for accuracy and discipline versus free drawing for gesture and freedom, valuing both equally.
Drawings are reflections upon in-progress work currently in the studio, or simply made up entirely in Gregor’s imagination as opposed to precursors or ‘plans’ for future sculptures.
PAINTING AND DRAWING MEDIA
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Q:
What materials do you use for your mixed media work?
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A:
My drawings utilize a dazzling array of media, from gouache to acrylic paints, watercolors to graphite, transfers to inks, fountain pens to collage
“Painting similarly to both the Bay Area figurative painters and the abstract expressionists from the 50s, she has synthesized her own unique voice.”
PRACTICE
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Q:
How has your practice changed over time?
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A:
I include a lot more drawing in my daily practice. I sketch from works in progress. I allow myself more freedom and am more generous with experimentation and mark making. Now I paint and draw as well as sculpt.
“Gregor’s paintings and drawings influence and inform her ceramics and vice versa. The abstractions she creates on paper and canvas display a similar way of working and allow Gregor to explore color without the influence of the kiln and the surprises it can present. There is also an element of sculpture in the artist’s two-dimensional works; she often moves them from the wall to the floor to continue her process from a different orientation.”
"Michelle Gregor: Seeking Resonance", Forward. Michelle Gregor, 2018
INSPIRATION
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Q:
What has been a seminal experience?
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A:
… having first seen the work of artists like Cy Twombly, Joan Mitchell and Auguste Rodin. Being brought to tears by a canvas covered with scratchy marks and not knowing why. My relationship to looking at art has brought me profound emotional experiences.
“Gregor has always been a proponent of creating drawings in addition to her sculpted pieces.… They are a playground which give the artist a platform to more easily and readily explore color palettes before they reach clay. By refusing to ignore two-dimensional mediums, Gregor yet again proves herself to be a well-rounded artist.”
Michelle Gregor, 2018
Studio Life
PASSION FOR ART HISTORY AND MUSEUMS
Michelle Gregor travels widely in pursuit of experiential learning in Southeast Asia and takes an annual trip to Europe to visit museums of art. Armed with her sketch book she spends hours sketching the exhibits.
Drawing is an important part of Gregor’s process, but there is a clear distinction between her activity of drawing from life and the gestural mark making she uses in her work. This sketching is an aide-mémoire and a mark of respect, rather than a collection of source material for replication.
Q: What advice would you give the 20-year-old version of yourself?
A: Draw more. It is a discipline that we don’t really have in ceramics. Drawing makes one see better, and look more carefully.
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Figurative and Abstract Expressionism
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