Michelle Jones
How Strange It Is to Be Anything at All
My work explores the strangeness of being and perceiving. I am interested in the contemplative observation of things and fascinated by how we, as humans, project meaning onto objects and other living things within the world around us.
I explore these ideas primarily through the arrangement of objects within painting and installation. I also use illustrative devices, such as depicting figures in the act of observing. I am drawn to small, delicate, and natural forms such as snail shells and ladybirds, while also maintaining an interest in figurines and miniatures. Within my work, small-scale 3D artworks exist alongside both natural and man-made found objects.
I am influenced by outsider art, children’s media, and expressionism. Through my work, I aim to evoke a sense of existential wonder within the viewer.
“How Strange It Is to Be Anything at All” — Neutral Milk Hotel
Pretty — pretty, oil on board, 29.7 x 29.7 cm.
Duck, Egg and Tin Whistle, oil on board, 42 x 29.7 cm.
Searching in Rockpools, oil on board, 42 x 29.7 cm.
Snail Shell, Baby and Conch, oil on board, 42 x 29.7 cm.
How Strange it is to be Anything at All, oil on board, 42 x 29.7 cm.
Those Blue Flowers Always seem Impossibly Bright to Me, oil on board, 59.4 x 42 cm.
2 Chair Forms, oil on board, 59.4 x 42 cm.
The First Witness, oil on raw canvas and paper Mâche.
Research
Teaching Placements
St. Dominic's College, Cabra, Dublin 7
Mount Carmel Secondary School, Rotunda, Dublin 1
Cabra Community College, Cabra, Dublin 7