My paintings are an ongoing exploration of the spaces where "inner" and "outer" meet, whether the setting be human or celestial. From the mysteries and metaphors that I find in familiar subjects, such as my ships and dancers, to my cosmological studies of a complex and seemingly impersonal universe -- in the heart of my creations lies the familiar made abstract, and the distant made intimate. 

A note on the "Inner Space" series:
I am fascinated with the analogy of space with human consciousness. The vastness of space, with its mysterious and oft-dazzling beauty, and the highly complex "inner space" of human consciousness form the focus of my work. Layers of color and texture illuminate my visions of planets and stars as points in a vast continuum, radiating life and emotion of their own. I think of each painting as the result of various “encounters” with these places, revealed in boldly colorful, multi-dimensional and sometimes sensual paintings that simultaneously evoke a sense of space intertwined with psychic tension. 
 

Michelle Peckham is an artist who explores perception through painting, photography and mixed media installations. Inspired by weathering, decomposition and discovery, her work is often fueled by found objects revealing worn life and layers of use.  As a designer, she investigates the existing conditions of buildings and place, focusing on details that connect and separate.  

Michelle Peckham earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from Scripps College in 1998 and a Masters degree in Interior Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2010.  She grew up in New Mexico and currently lives in San Francisco, California.

Rob Anderson is known for the emotive power and exquisite execution of his art.  Whether drawing, painting, or multi-media installation, content is of great importance to him.  He works primarily with the human figure rendered from life incorporating it into environments, both abstract and real, actual or imagined.

 In his first open studio in 20 years, Rob will be showing a selection of artwork spanning his professional career including works from the Man-in-the-Box series, the Pergamon Altar Project, Rattlesnake in a Moving Car: Life with HIV, and his iconic 1982 Gay Olympic Games print.

During my 2005 travel to the Carolinas, I was drawn into these interior spaces where the afternoon sunlight filled in a narrative of antiquity. The story dates itself to circa 1800’s on a plantation near the Catawba River in the Carolinas, where early African-American slaves created various objects used for daily living. In these post-photo images I had asked a photo service to add sepia, my favorite. When the final touches were applied, a result of which I refer to as frayed edges came forth. Sepia has the ability to effect emotion that reestablishes a mood in history, and it also serves as a sage of time.

As a person who is filled with many different emotions, most of my work is cathartic self-expression. In expressing my emotions, I seek to connect with others and evoke a sense of familiarity and fellowship. Part of my body of work is based on my dark feelings such as pain, struggle and depression, however, beauty of human emotion is almost always stressed. Recently, I have been influenced by the texture and shape of a seashell, as well as its connotation of protectiveness, privacy and individuality. The harmonization of the radically different, such as, violence and meditation, spontaneity and meticulousness, and destruction and repair is found in the process, as well as the result of my work

After becoming interested in an observation or idea, I feel an overwhelming desire to explore, describe and share it. Subjects range from the improbable juxtaposition of things that I happen upon, to concepts that I find particularly interesting. The process of translation into imagery enhances my experience and distills information from whichever image or idea has captured my attention.

Context is the primary mechanism that I use to filter my perceptions. Relationships between a subject and its viewer, or between an object and its environment, create a contextual reference that orders and defines the way something is understood. Seemingly concrete concepts like east compared to west, up and down, or in front of and behind, become fluid depending upon the position of the observer in relation to direction.

People define and are defined by their experiences. In my art practice I use sculpture, two-dimensional media and performance to explore the interrelationships between forms and their implied observer in order to share that experience. My perspective in the observation and creation process inevitably becomes part of the art produced. This implied reference, manifested in the work, engages the viewer as part of the context, while they experience the art.

I make abstract paintings on canvas, panel, and fabric. Physicality and color drive my work. Evidence of my body is revealed in the rawness of my mark making, with loose brushwork, drips, and muscular swipes across the surface. Strange mixtures of artificial and natural colors that can sometimes seem like they would never fit together yet somehow do: weird greens next to extreme yellows on top of grey blues beside earthy oranges, dull purples, bright reds, and dirty whites, are pushed and pulled around my paintings until they come to some sort of balance. I thrive on this dance of intuitive gambles and considered choices, finding ways to take meager materials and make something fresh. I do not start with a specific plan for a painting, but watch it unfold as I go. I am not trying to depict something in particular, although what I've seen must, indeed, inform my vision. I am not trying to tell a story, even though, if I'm lucky, my paintings might provide something to think about. I am not playing an instrument, but there is rhythm and lyricism running through my compositions. I am not interested in painting things that I already know; it is the mystery and revelation of things unknown that thrill me. I make my paintings as non-objective, visual experiences, chances to see something new, again and again.

“But we try to pretend, you see, that the external world exists altogether independently of us.”
–Alan Watts

“As far as men go, it is not what they are that interests me, but what they can become.”
–Jean-Paul Sartre

"He will essentially follow the language of the spectacle, for it is the only one he is familiar with."
- Guy Debord

Generally speaking, the focus of my creative and scholarly attention is to sort out the ways that people relate to one another. There are 3 distinct states within the human experience that I struggle to reconcile:

1. Mankind as an instinctual animal, directly connected to the earth with all of
its’ flora and fauna.

2. Mankind as an evolved, socially conscious being, that must consider both
the individual and the community at large.

3. Mankind as a fractured being, whose constant engagement within the
sociological environment of virtual technology and mass media inherently
separates him/her from their physiology.