Many of the works here are inspired by topography, cartography, blueprints, maps, and diagrams. They are put into the layering process and then rediscovered as something else during the removal and marking process. I liken it to an archeological dig site only I have inserted the artifacts in the sedimentary layers that my process has created. Paint, paper, original drawings and diagrams are added at different periods in the process to be excavated at a later date.

The discovery process in my work excites me. I gather information and inspiration from everything around me, storing it in my brain to access at a later date, like a malfunctioning hard drive.

Build it up tear it down and put it back together again. It’s during the removal and piecing it back together is when I find my way in a painting -- looking for moments to grab onto and follow. Sometimes I feel like I am overhearing a remark -- like I am listening in on a conversation—until something is said that interests me.

I like to be stopped dead in my tracks. Whether a song, book, poem, a mark, a painting, or a ghost — and move on that.

Michael is a contemporary abstract artist living and working in Phoenix. Michael spent nearly 30 years working on film and TV productions. He worked on such projects as Iron Man, CSI, Agent Carter, and Independence Day, to name a few. Always making drawings and small paintings, he turned hotel rooms around the world into mini-studios. He has exhibited in solo and group shows in Los Angeles, New York, and Phoenix.