Roger Michels

Studio #

A native Chicagoan, Roger Michels is a self-taught artist. In his twenties he became interested in making images of his hometown with disposable or Polaroid cameras with a viewpoint taken from walks on the street, as well as, bus and elevated train rides throughout the city. He used these photos to teach himself to draw. With his growing interest in graphic art, Roger turned his university studies from pre-law to art and in 1980 graduated from DePaul University with a degree in Art History. During this time, he also became an early adopter of computer based graphics tools, experimenting with creating and processing digital imagery on computing platforms. More recently, Roger began creating unique hand-crafted sculptures assembled with found objects that incorporate, wood, metal, glass and sometimes lighting components. These constructions are mostly made of ordinary/familiar objects, common materials or just plain junk and feature a variety of textures, shapes and patinas. They may juxtapose symmetry, asymmetry, nesting or stacking of similar or contrasting shapes often in a playful or whimsical take on these otherwise familiar forms. Roger's drawing, painting and photographic works include urban street scene, architectural, landscape, nature and food imagery from his life and travels... often transformed to emphasize visual rhythms or what he calls, "music for the eyes". Always, Roger's art is about intriguing ways to examine and rediscover the world around us and to find joy in new ways of looking at everything.