Michael Velliquette
Region: Midwest
City / State: Madison, WI
My work insists on a new spiritual vocabulary—one that combines
aspects of early twentieth-century formalism and contemporary
sensibilities about the handmade with a visual lexicon I have
developed over the past two decades. This vocabulary is bright,
dense, and ornamental, and is punctuated with recurring motifs
such as hands, eyes, flowers, planets, mandalas, and goofy
smiley faces. Color plays a powerful role in my work, conveying
a sense of optical fullness or aesthetic abundance. The laborintensive
nature of my practice correlates with a kind of studioinduced
mindfulness, while broader themes address the creative
process in relation to matter, sensation, perception, reaction, and
consciousness.