Artist Statement

Being bicultural—Brazilian and American—shapes Michelle’s creative practice. Her art and poetry reflect the personal struggle to reconcile this fractured identity. The tension between belonging to two cultural spaces and the shattering femininities of Western societies (both cultures impose rigid gender stereotypes) challenge her sense of self; by embracing this fragmentation, Michelle proposes a vision of healing through art, transforming fractures into sites of beauty. She invites others to envision the beauty in their own fragmented selves, especially those of us who are denied our full cultural complexity.

The idea of “theorizing joy” animates Michelle’s work across visual art and poetry: How does one construct joy in the hegemon? How do we carry hegemonic values in our bodies, and how can we unwind ourselves from these postures? These questions require us to peel back and deconstruct our own experiences to shed the burdens that are placed upon us, so as to exist in our own naked awareness, to make something of the shattered cultural fragments.

Michelle’s poetry, collage, and assemblage works explore the complexities of femininity within this hegemonic context, balancing wholeness and fragmentation, challenging hierarchies between art and craft. Using paper, ready-mades, and craft materials and techniques like washi tape and paper punches, traditional notions of beauty and value are disrupted, creating pieces that are visually striking and intellectually provocative. Hyper-feminine elements, often dismissed as decorative or frivolous, mask deeper critiques of cultural coding, where fragmented female bodies evoke the fractured self and invite a restructuring of identity. Ultimately, Michelle’s work seeks to reclaim femininity, with glittering excess as a form of resistance, encouraging viewers to reflect on their own deeper layers of identity.

Bio