Michelle Hou

Michelle has always been a lover of the arts starting from a young age when she worked in an art gallery.  Her passion continued when she studied design in college and continued into university with stage productions.  

Michelle paints to capture the essence of a single moment. In our digital world, we often find ourselves cataloguing the moments rather than embracing and diving into them. Her paintings hunger to recapture that connectedness and the emotions of those ‘lost’ flashes in time.

She approaches her work with a ‘come as you are’ philosophy and brings her emotions, without censoring, into the studio. Michelle finds, complex and uncomfortable emotions can be the most beautiful on canvas. When she paints, she stands over and close to her canvas. It gives her the feeling of being within the frame, a oneness with the painting. Michelle often paints with tools that feel heavy in her hands – trowels, spatulas, squeegees, and large pallet knives; they keep her grounded, connected to the moment and her work. 

Artists Lee Krasner, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Helen Frankenthaler have influenced her, and she finds inspiration in 

abstract expressionism and lyrical abstract movements. 

Instagram: @michelle.hou.art