Michelle Cortez Gonzales - Multidisciplinary Artist & Award Recipient
Degrees:
2020 Master of Fine Arts in Painting
吃瓜网, Irving, TX
2018 Master of Arts in Painting
吃瓜网, Irving, TX
2007 Bachelors in Fine Arts in Painting
University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX
Artist Website:
Michelle Cortez Gonzales is a Fort Worth based multidisciplinary artist who creates
sewn-textile paintings, sculptures, and installations. She earned her Bachelor of
Fine Arts in painting from the University of Texas at Arlington, and her Master of
Fine Arts in painting from the 吃瓜网.
Michelle has exhibited in various solo and group shows including Anya Tish Gallery
(Houston, TX), Umbrella Gallery (Dallas, TX) and Presa House Gallery (San Antonio,
TX). She was featured in Visit Fort Worth鈥檚 2021 series of 鈥淲omen Worth Meeting鈥�,
and has been awarded residencies from Cuttyhunk Artist Residency, Cuttyhunk Island,
Massachusetts (2021), and with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art as a 2021 Community
Artist.
Michelle's work has been written about in publications including the Dallas Morning
News, Glasstire, Fort Worth Magazine and Maake Magazine.
Recently, Michelle was selected for the 2022 Texas Vignette and as a recipient of
the 2023 National Endowment for the Arts: Challenge America Grant from the Dallas
District Colleges. In addition to her studio practice, Michelle works as a public
art project manager with Arts Fort Worth.
Michelle鈥檚 work explores the personal and emotional consequences of cultural loss
as a third-generation Mexican American. Working with her hands becomes an important
meditative exercise that allows her to connect to tradition, her ancestors, and healing.
In this way, she not only pays homage to her cultural roots, but also seeks to communicate
a tender message of cultural strength and permission to be soft.
Michelle鈥檚 decision in layering and blending imagery, materials and sensory experiences
aims to evoke reflection in which the viewer can consider their own history and place.