ARTIST STATEMENT

My paintings are visual meditations on life’s cycles and the unseen forces that shape our existence. To me, nature is sacred and conscious—its patterns and rhythms inspire my work as I explore the relationship between the human spirit and the natural world. Art is my compass to the cosmos.

My process blends oil, watercolor, and pastel. I infuse my paints with herbs and flower essences, embedding each work with magical, energetic resonance. I place my canvas on the floor and begin by letting the paint move freely across it—pouring, guiding, and observing as color flows across the surface. I don’t start with a fixed image or decide the subject matter in advance. Instead, I work with veils of poured pigment, allowing figures and forms to emerge organically from puddles, drips, negative spaces, and layers of translucent color. This intuitive approach is a form of visual scrying: I read the patterns created by the interaction of color as one might read the rhythms of nature—like water shaping earth or clouds drifting into form. Through this process, subconscious and channeled imagery coalesce into mythic, dreamlike narratives where spirit and symbol reveal themselves. For me, painting is a tool for channeling higher states of consciousness—each piece begins with intention and meditation.

As a neurodivergent, queer artist, I experience the world as layered, nonlinear, and multidimensional. My paintings reflect my fragmented thought processes and inner reality. Aspects of my work are informed by traumatic life experiences—art is my healer. In 2020, I was hit by a car—an accident that led to a near-death experience and traumatic brain injury. The accident heightened my intuitive sensitivities and awakened synesthesia, allowing me to perceive color and form in response to sound. This experience profoundly reshaped my painting practice, which has since evolved into a healing, visionary path.

As a healing arts practitioner, my process is rooted in alternative forms of mysticism, nature-based beliefs, magical traditions, and spiritual practices, including Buddhism. My work is both a visual invocation and a vessel for transformation. I draw inspiration from artists like Hilma af Klint, Dorothea Tanning, and Agnes Pelton—women who translated inner vision into luminous, transcendent imagery

Painting opens a threshold between worlds—a liminal space where human and nature, body and myth, consciousness and cosmos dissolve into one another. The figures in my work often embody feminine archetypes—goddesses, deities, and elemental forces. They are mythological, radiant, and deeply connected to nature. They exist in surreal, fluid environments where boundaries dissolve and realities intertwine. Figures emerge organically from their surroundings; petals become limbs, and plants pulse with sentience. The body is an alchemical vessel—emerging, unraveling, and reconstituting in a continuous process of transformation. Rather than depict external reality, my paintings give form to what is felt and unseen—intuition, energy, emotion. Each piece carries a distinct vibration, alive with presence and seeking connection. They open portals into transformative realms, where spirit, story, and sensuality merge into luminous, visionary worlds.

Each painting offers a space for reflection, healing, and connection—living with these works brings energy, meaning, and beauty into the lives of those who experience them.

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BIOGRAPHY

Michelle Hinebrook is a queer, female-identifying artist, mother, and painter based in New York City. Hinebrook’s vibrant oil paintings serve as abstract representations of spiritual and emotional experiences, exploring cosmic consciousness, magic, nature, and spiritual transcendence. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art & Design from the College for Creative Studies.

Her work has been featured in 18 solo exhibitions and over 50 group exhibitions globally and is included in several prestigious public and corporate collections. Including shows at 101 Exhibit Gallery (FL), Hallway Gallery (WA), David Klein Gallery (MI), Foley Gallery (NYC), Helene Nyborg Contemporary (Denmark), FORMah Gallery (NYC), McKenzie Fine Art (NYC), Islip Art Museum (NY), Pratt Manhattan Gallery (NYC), Cranbrook Art Museum (MI), Museum of New Art (MI), and Marlborough Gallery (NYC).

Hinebrook is currently a resident artist at XO Projects in Brooklyn, where she continues to push the boundaries of her mediums. Known for her exploration of mystical, metaphysical, and natural themes. In addition to her studio practice, Michelle curates exhibitions, writes about art, offers art advisory services, and teaches internationally. She is also the director of Artful Edge Academy. Including the College Art Association, Parsons School of Design, Western Carolina University, College for Creative Studies, Pratt Institute, University of Michigan, BGS University, Urban Glass, Snowfarm, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, Artist Space, Parsons, Western Carolina University, Nurture Art, Snowfarm, The Center for New England Crafts, Studio in a School, PS20, Marquis Studios, Young Audiences New York, Berkley Carroll School, Pratt Institute, and Cranbrook Academy of Art.

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EDUCATION

MFA, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Painting – Honors | 2003–2005

BFA, College for Creative Studies, Visual Communication – Honors | 1998–2001

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Blacklist, New York, NY – Michelle Hinebrook

2017 Hallway Gallery, Seattle, WA – Inner Light

2014

101 Exhibit Gallery, Miami, FL

Hallway Gallery, Seattle, WA – Inner Light

Pew Foundation for the Arts / Project 4 Gallery, Washington, DC – Art + Space

LTS Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Edelman Gallery, New York, NY – Off the Grid

2010

David Klein Gallery, Birmingham, MI – Gesture and Geometry

Maryland Center for the Arts, Annapolis, MD – Color and Form

2009

Foley Gallery, New York, NY – Enveloped

Helene Nyborg Contemporary, Denmark – Subtle Bodies

Center Gallery, CCS, Detroit, MI – Lucid

2003

One Line Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI – Michelle Hinebrook

ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL – New Paintings

2004 Pfizer Corporation, Ann Arbor, MI – Refigured

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 FORMah Gallery, NY – Divine Feminine, curated by Marina Granger

2021–2015

Helene Nyborg Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark – Art Copenhagen

XO Projects, Brooklyn, NY – The 12 (2021), Factory Made (2019)

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY – Faculty Exhibition (2018)

101 Exhibit Gallery, Los Angeles, CA – Koi No Yokan II, curated by Collette Robbins (2016)

Ground Floor Gallery, Brooklyn, NY – Gowanus (2015)

Hewitt Gallery, NY – Self Similarity in Math, Nature, and Art

Center Galleries, CCS, Detroit, MI – Director’s Choice

2010–2005

Gallery Project, Ann Arbor, MI – WARP (2010)

Civilian Art Projects, DC – Spaces Between Spaces (2009)

Islip Art Museum, NY – I Dream of Genomes (2008)

Marlborough Gallery, NY – Summer Show (2007)

Pratt Manhattan Gallery, NY – The Optical Edge, curated by Robert Morgan (2006)

McKenzie Fine Art, NY – World Without End

Cranbrook Museum of Art – Graduate Selections, Summer Group Exhibition, Made Here (2005)

Artists Space, NY – 1,000 Drawings

2004–2001

Museum of New Art, DaimlerChrysler, Wayne State, Art Space Gallery, Pete & Susan Barrett Gallery, Ann Arbor Art Center, CPOP Gallery, Detroit Artists Market, Scarab Club, College for Creative Studies, and others.

SELECTED RESIDENCIES

Artist-in-Residence, XO Projects, Brooklyn, NY and Artist-in-Residence, Snowfarm – The Center for New England Crafts

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2009–2025 Adjunct Associate Professor, Graduate Communication Design, Pratt Institute, NY

2022–2025 Director & Instructor, Artful Edge Academy, Brooklyn, NY

2017–2025 Visiting Instructor, Urban Glass, Brooklyn, NY

2010-2025 Teaching Artist, Young Audiences New York

2008–2010 Art Educator, Nurture Art, Joan Mitchell Foundation, Marquis Studios, NYC

2006–2009 Art Instructor, Studio in a School, Young Audiences, NYC

2005–2004 Graduate Teaching Assistant, Cranbrook Academy of Art, MI

2004–2005 Instructor, Cranbrook Summer Art Institute, MI

2002–2004 Instructor, Lloyd Scholars Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

2000–2002 Adjunct Instructor, CCS, Detroit – Design, Illustration, Digital Media

LEADERSHIP & ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE

2009–2014 Assistant Chair, Graduate Communication Design, Pratt Institute, NY

2010–2014 Director, Graduate Design Gallery, Pratt Institute

2011–2014 Gallery Program Coordinator, Graduate Design, Pratt

1998–1999 Conservation & Museum Services Assistant, Detroit, MI

1999 Art Restoration & Conservation Assistant, Detroit, MI

VISITING ARTIST & LECTURES

Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI, College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI, Bowling Green State University, OH, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, Parsons, New York, Western Carolina University, NC, College Art Association, Formah Gallery, David Klein Gallery, Young Audiences New York, NYFA, Artisin LLC, Newark, NJ

AWARDS & GRANTS

2021 CERF+ Artist Grant

2019 Tech Seed Research Grant, Pratt Institute

2008 NYC Parks Grant, Studio in the Park

2006–Present XO Projects Residency, Brooklyn, NY