Michael is a Detroit-born, Portland-based painter whose semi-abstract portraiture explores humanness beyond the literal. Working in acrylic, he begins with the figure, then builds context through shape, color, and symbolism, carefully balancing what’s revealed and what’s withheld. The result is a series of works that invites viewers to project, interpret, and linger without being led.

His paintings invite and often command interpretation with each piece serving as a test of empathy, an invitation to project, question, unearth meaning without instruction. Faces are often blurred, details intentionally withheld—not to obscure meaning, but to make space for it. The work resists perfection, leaning into moments between expressions, into the context clues of daily life. Every choice is intentional: what is shown, what is blank, and what the viewer brings with them.

Michael’s practice questions the infrastructure of art itself: who decides what’s worthy, what’s timely, what’s seen? In a world algorithmically curated, his goal is to create something undeniably worthy of your attenion, especially for those not actively looking. The work asks to be seen, and in doing so, provokes individual honest thought.

Michael’s influences include Egon Schiele, for expressionistic rawness , and Guim Tió, whose minimal gestures communicate volumes. Like them, Michael aims to say more with less, to create a body of work that is concisely effective and affecting.