Fire. FIRE! Michael Prettyman’s paintings dive deep into the idea of growth and rebirth through the phenomenon of fire: boats burning in front of icebergs; forest fires next to freeways; idyllic palm trees bursting into flames. He pursues his material practice as a meditation on contemporary life, whether it is in drawing, painting or sculpture. He studied at The School of Visual Art, the New York Academy of Art and received advanced instruction in thangka painting at the Tsering School of Art in Kathmandu, Nepal. He has a master’s degree in theology from the Harvard Divinity School and has exhibited drawings and paintings in New York, Hong Kong, Barcelona and Almaty, Kazakhstan, and lectures widely on creativity, spiritual practice, mysticism and ideas of the divine. He is currently working on a book about creativity and spiritual practice, as well as a body of paintings addressing the Anthropocene Sublime. He lives and works in New York City.
More ArtWork
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Fuilles Vertes
This piece was about the posture of the person and how it connected to a natural element like green leaves.I elongated the neck to give the figure a bird-like quality and softness. I enjoy letting the watercolor bleed and move on its own and then I go back in to add structure. Shereene Fogenay was born […]
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Can’t Help Falling in Love
A “holy” portrait of being a modern day artist and performer in Las Vegas. Over the course of the nearly 11 minute video loop, Heidi transforms in and out of being Elvis from inside a neon shrine. The sculpture is about identity, performance, transformation and the labor that goes into being an artist.
