Today we’d like to introduce you to Michele Fandel Bonner.
Michele Fandel, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I grew up in Carlisle, Mass. with a few years in Switzerland as a child and another few years in England as an adult. I have always been a maker but only started showing my work seriously in 2013. I studied art therapy in college and have been practicing on myself ever since. I moved to the North Shore of Boston 20 years ago and work in my home studio.
Recently, my work has begun to have more of a social commentary edge to it. While listening to the news this past year about yet another #metoo revelation, the “Telling” series (infuriating things casually said to women) just flew out of my hands. Clothing labels have been a recurring medium for the last five years and they continue to inspire me. I volunteer at a local thrift shop benefiting the homeless in Salem called Lifebridge. I see the mountains of donated items coming in, especially clothing. We are buried in it. I try to make meaning of the stuff.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I make mostly 3D work using found materials. My materials are the daily discards and the mundane detritus that are often overlooked. I seek to find beauty in found objects. I collect the items (cherry pits, inseams, clothing labels, my own hair) that spark me somehow, and wait until they lead me to what to make. The idea of making something from nothing is exciting. When something strikes my fancy, I set about collecting it. I don’t always know what it will be or when it will be but eventually, the end will present itself. Then, it’s a matter of putting it together like a puzzle.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Recognition that art adds value to all our lives. It isn’t seen as an essential part of life. Until it is, support artists by going to shows, talking to the artists and buy their work.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My work can be found on Instagram as michelefandelbonner and on my website, www.michelebonner.com
I have an upcoming 3 person show in March, “Keeping Count” at University Place in Harvard Square with The Cambridge Art Association. The show will also feature work by Kimberly Becker and Elena Brunner. I will be teaching two workshops in Australia in July 2019 with Fibre Arts Australia in Ballarat and Toowomba, and my work will featured throughout the Gleason Library in Carlisle MA from September to December 2019. Come to any of these venues and say hi!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.michelebonner.com
- Email: michelefbonner@gmail.com
- Instagram: michelefandelbonner
- Facebook: michele fandel bonner
Image Credit:
John Bonner
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