Michelle Segre

In her sculptures composed of plaster, wire, mesh, found detritus, and various organic matter, Michelle Segre develops a heterogeneous vision, informed as much by mega-ancient Neolithic idols as by Joan Miró and science fiction. The effect is fantastical and bizarre, an invitation to negotiate an alternate reality and a sculptural set of unknowns. The craft-work motifs rendered in vibrant colors of yarn (blackberry purple, candy apple red, mustard yellow), shards of reflective materials, and a web of suggestive and enigmatic objects evoke detailed cellular patterns and astral visions. Segre's work hovers at an edge where everything remains fragmentary and incomplete, on the brink of coming apart, refusing to fulfill expectations in any predictable way. The process is improvisational and fluid, resulting in pieces that are both playfully casual and intense.

Segre has had solo exhibitions at institutions such as Cress Gallery at University of Tennessee in Chattanooga and Antecedents of the Astral Hamster at University Art Museum at University at Albany SUNY. Her work has been included in group exhibitions at CU Art Museum in Boulder, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, and PS1 Contemporary Art Center in Long Island City, among others. She has been honored with the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Artists’ New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and the Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award.

Courtesy of Derek Eller Gallery