Michelle Ross

Michelle Ross uses abstract painting as a medium to translate visual encounters in her environment. She composes her works using an improvisational process as a means of engaging the poetics and atmosphere of the Pacific Northwest. Her studio practice is informed by her diverse transdisciplinary interests, from writings within mystic traditions to physics and astronomy, natural sciences, psychology, novels, poetry, and her own writing practice. 

Michelle Ross’ process is driven by a desire to foster groundedness in the tangible and connection with the transcendent. As a result, she creates new relationships—both conceptual and aesthetic—that mirror the shifting realities of our time. Though concentrated on abstract painting, her work includes textiles as well as analogue and digital collages. Ross has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions both nationally and internationally, including the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (Boston, Massachusetts), The Art Gym at Marylhurst University (Marylhurst, OR), Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR) and Rome International University (Rome, Italy). Her work resides in several collections, including the Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR), Rhode Island School of Design Special Collections (Providence, RI) and the Four Seasons Hotel (Abu Dhabi, UAE), among others. In 2012, Ross was named as a Hallie Ford Fellow in the Visual Arts. Her recent 2020 commission, four massive site-specific paintings measuring 16 feet tall by 7 feet wide at The Standard Insurance Company (Portland, OR), marks her largest-scale project to date.