Biography

Michelle D. Ferrera

Influenced early on by her creative close-knit family, Michelle spent her early years intoxicated by the imaginary worlds she and her sisters created with Artist father, Richard Ferrera. Michelle's Art, which primarily included writing short stories, journaling and sketching, evolved while studying at Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ. Not only did she refine her technical skills, concentrating on Figure Drawing, Michelle was accepted to be an exchange student at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. During that semester abroad, her journals transformed to faces quickly sketched, colors and smells jotted down, a feather stuck, replacing the high school whining. During her final semester at MSU, with support from Professor and Illustrator, Scott Gordley, her solo show "journal idea" was accepted. "Organized Mess"  was a chance to create her first full installation. The positive and negative feedback from her notebook left out for the audience during the show was exactly the motivation she was looking for.  After graduating, Michelle spent the next few years as a furniture painter, school and Wedding photographer, Art Instructor and Mural Artist, all giving flexibility in her schedule to travel.  Experimenting with different mediums combined with traveling during those years fueled her brain with new ideas. 

Michelle busted beyond the journal late 2007 while needing a larger canvas. The first durable surface she could find in the garage was a scrap piece of wood. The Late Nite series took on a heavy span of about two solid years and will remain open. During this time Michelle introduced more collage and mixed media into her work loving the freedom in this style. It mimicked the free-writing in her journals bringing a different side of her to life. This series along with others have been shown in a few local galleries, historic homes and venues such as; Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta, the Edward Hopper House in Nyack, NY, Greenpoint Gallery in Brooklyn, NY and her own booth space at the Contemporary Art Fair (2010) at the Jacob Javits Center, NYC.  

Michelle's style, tools and materials are emotionally fueled and inspired by her life experiences. In early 2010 the Artist's personal life threw another curveball and with emotions at an all time low, Michelle stuck to the basics as seen in the Golden series. From the 29 Flavors and then some series to the Alive series she began to take pride in the wood, sanding and perfecting it as she took care of her own physical well being in the process. Concentrating on each detail, stroke and shadow, her technique is currently evolving and growing again, this time under the West Coast sun. Utilizing her new studio, tools, skies and creatures, Ferrera is diving deeper into the process adding new back frames, built and created by her. In the Artist's words, "the wood serves as a reflection of me, my body...and the pencil, my soul. What I'm learning is that my audience can see, hear and feel themselves in the art I create. It was never the intent, rather a therapy for myself. My emotional truth has set me free, my hope is that it does the same for you."