Midland, Texas artist Michael Hubbard’s work creates an imaginary vision of non-binary identity in all its ambiguity, joyful freedom, and contradiction.
Michael Hubbard currently lives and works in Midland, Texas. Primarily in the medium of painting, his work aims to create an imaginary vision of non-binary identity in all its ambiguity, joyful freedom, and contradiction.
“As a nonbinary artist, my most recent work has been an expression of my own gender identity. I find paint an ideal medium to play with all the ambiguities and contradictions present in the experience and perception of gender. In my paintings, I aim to express a feeling of freedom from biology and societal norms. Many of my works feature images of nude bodies layered and merged until surface signifiers vanish and they become just joyful human forms in motion. Others create imaginary scenes that subvert gender stereotypes.
My paintings are celebrations of life lived in between. Many are composed of images from sequential photos and video footage, layered in semi-transparent veils, digitally altered, then translated into the language of paint. Multiple views of moving figures blur together with brightly colored shapes and abstract forms. There is a suggestion of space and movement—an expanded photographic moment—but the layering of images makes looking difficult. While the original media imagery is designed to be quickly consumed and easily digested, the paintings resist the viewer’s gaze. They demand a slower, deeper look.”
Hubbard received a BFA in painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design and an MFA in visual art from Washington State University.
Midland, TX | michaelhubbardart.com | ig: @michael_hubbard_art
