Michelle Carter
MFA ’09 Fine Arts 2D
My paintings loosely reference landscapes and weather systems. Although my current work is not mimetic, it draws upon twenty years of painting outdoors from direct observation. My fascination with landscape — particularly the New England coast — is rooted in attention to movement, both actual and implied. Exploring the physical properties of paint has recently prompted inclusion of found materials — anything from discarded household utensils to fabric scraps to roadside car debris. A key part of my practice is an ongoing project of completing one small piece on paper per day, no matter what my time constraints are. Each daily work is five and a half inches by four and a half inches and typically involves mixed media. Generating hundreds of visual ideas in this manner, I aim to carry my feeling of experimental freedom into my larger, extended paintings.
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Michelle Carter is a painter with a studio in Charlestown, MA. She is Associate Professor of Art & Design at Northern Essex Community College (Haverhill and Lawrence), where she teaches drawing and art history and chairs the program. Michelle is also a Faculty Director for the Graduate Commons Program at Harvard University, which involves community-building events. Before her Massart MFA, Michelle earned a BA in History from Vassar College and a post-bacc from Brandeis University. Michelle lives in Cambridge with her partner and son.
