Gaea, Kris Johnson Michiels, 2013, Digital Print, 14 x 17"

$750

Artist Statement

Based in Richmond Annex | unceded Ohlone land

Throughout my childhood, huge Elms and Sycamores in great numbers filled my world.

It was a very lush, green environment. These remarkable trees were filled with the

droning of cicadas in summer, sheathed in glistening canopies of ice in winter.

Much of my time was spent wandering around my favorite woodlands.

I contemplated their forms in every season and they gave me comfort.

It was a natural sanctuary for my developing psyche.

I began to work in pen and ink pointillism, exploring my ability to create the textures of

nature that gave me such joy to observe. Now I work in printmaking, drawing and painting. 

I have collected myths and poetry about trees, nature and the divine feminine for the past 40 years. 

Through these myths, I have come to feel that my drawing is leading me on a path of discovery.

A link has formed in me from my early childhood reverence, the universal nature-myths and my work today. By using visions sparked from nature-myth, poetry and dreams, I like to create works that impart a celebration and homage to life around us. I love the quote from Joseph Campbell, “This is the function of art, to express the rapture of being alive.”

Persephone gathering flowers: Goddess of Spring, The Underworld.

Began as a simple linocut of a concept of tending the inner

garden. Developed into a layering of color/ paper and a connection with

the mythical story of Persephone gathering flowers before her descent

into the underworld. The deep journey, rites of passage. Her story is a

tale of endurance. Her myth dates back to ancient Sumerian roots.

Gaea: Ancient Greek Goddess of Mother Earth

This vision of Gaea is intended to express the profound emotional

meaning of our great Mother. The Gaea Principle posits that Earth’s

massive biological systems behave as a single entity with self regulatory

feedback loops keeping conditions in boundaries favorable to life.

Reverence for the Earth as a living being is essential.

Dream of Form

The divine feminine dreaming the Universe into being. She is primordial

matriarchal power. Creating, nurturing. From her vision flows all.

My effort in this piece, as I drew upon the thick slab of limestone, is to express

the beauty and majestic miracle of manifestation.

Wherein we dream our lives and may connect in oneness as we strive to dream

a life of love, caring connection and depth.