Michael Divine

U.S.A.

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Michael Divine - Video


Michael Divine is part of a wave of creative visionaries who draw their inspiration not just from art theory and intellectual ideas but also from the basic principles of what it is to lead a healthy and vibrant life. His spirited and vivacious artwork falls in step with a long tradition of artists who base their work on their interpretive visions. His paintings – with their imaginative wonder and deeper spiritual underpinnings – reference ancient traditions, modern artistic explorations, and contemporary themes.

Michael's artwork follows in the footsteps of the Symbolist movement of the late 1800′s as it progressed through the Modern Art movements of the early 1900′s. His work is as much inspired by Futurism, Impressionism, and Abstract Artists as it is by the Surrealists and the Fantastic Realists. From Wassily Kandinsky's intuitive balance of line and color to the bold movements of Umberto Boccioni to the psychologically deductive landscapes of Salvador Dali, the elements of the past inform Michael's art and provide a groundwork to build upon. Hs is inspired by the teachings of the many great artists of the past and his work helps to continue a living artistic lineage and narrative and adds a very present spiritual component to this artistic vision.

Passionate and serene at once, Michael Divine's images speak with a universal language of beauty that anyone can understand and relate to. Drawing upon his visions and experiences, his work explores the inner worlds of the psyche and the heart. He translates this experience into breathtakingly sublime imagery that illustrates the journey of growth and transcendence through the inescapable phenomenon of human existence and conditioning.

Michael has spent much of his adult life painting, traveling, and honing his artistic skills. Throughout his colorful life, he has actively pushed the boundaries of his creative endeavors, exploring his personal evolution while concentrating on archetypes of human emotional experience and how they play out in our relationship to the world. He feels that life is an ever-evolving dance, centering around creating a healthy coexistence with the world at large. Michael continues to draw inspiration from a wide variety of sources - music, art, architecture, politics, and more – while exploring philosophies and practices that inspire him including Buddhism, Yoga, dance, and various forms of meditation. He currently lives in Southern California with his wife Violet, an artist and student of philosophy, and their myriad pets.

 
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When I was younger, there was a song I heard – it doesn't matter who played it, or when, but there it was – this great soaring peak. It was so high, so blissful, so full of light and depth and joy. And it showed me, I think, when I was younger, what was possible out of music and therefore, to me, what was possible out of art and, likewise, what was possible out of life: that if you took the time consider all the stuff of life – all the wonder and beauty and darkness and disharmony – all the words and all the songs – the people and the places and the things – the emotions and opinions – that there is this thing – this ineffable nameless thing – within all things and it doesn't need religion, doesn't even need to be called spiritual – it doesn't have to try to be anything – it just is. And it is so sublimely beautiful, so supremely blissful, that I could not help but call it love.

I decided that's what I wanted out of my artwork – to tap upon that is-ness – to dance and play with it – to love and cry and learn and fly. That is the heart at the core of my work – touching that which cannot be touched, naming that which cannot be named, and expressing the vast ineffable inexpressible is-ness.

At times, it might seem hard to catch that which cannot be caught – to find it – dance with it – as soon as you reach, it is gone. Look and it has vanished. My work is about that, too. It's about that dance. The parts that seem ugly or chafe against me or rub me the wrong way – the parts where there is longing, a desire for a connection, the illusion of shells, of skins, of perceptions. It's about all of it.

Why don't I paint more of the ugly, more of the darkness? one might ask. Well, I try. And it's in there. But, in the end, it always turns out beautiful. And, in the end, I am a lover of beauty.
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