Murals & Installations
Available for commission: info@gravesmichelle.com
Quantum Connectedness, 2022. 5.5x86’ on the east wall of the West Las Vegas Art Center property
Located at the West Las Vegas Art Center across from the Kianga Isoke Palacio park.
Commissioned and owned by the City of Las Vegas.
Click HERE for linear text.
Endurance, 2020. about 10x40’ On the façade of Violet Hour, Chicago
Momentum in Survival, 2020. about 3x60’ Berwyn, IL
Entering and Exiting, 2017. about 8x40’ Installation at Cleve Carney Gallery, College of Dupage, IL. (Emerging Artist Award)
I Will Not Forget, 2017. Façade of SquidBoat, Chicago
Learn From It, 2017. Interior of SquidBoat, Chicago
Signage for SoulBelly BBQ, Las Vegas, 2021-22
Walk (Stairwell), 2016. Site specific stream of conscious writing - a choose your own adventure. Installed at the Uptown Arts, Preston Bradley Center, Chicago.
WALK (STAIRCASE), 2016 (TRANSCRIPT)
The text starts with the 1st section and can be read through or jump to the next number when it’s crossed.
(1) It’s not the end at this point only a cusp a peak a glacier melting and revealing all the negative and positive factors in the equation that includes an equal sign though there might not be balance at the fulcrum of laughter and sadness where tears are produced either way that shine in the sun producing the -2- RBG color spectrum a variety of frequencies one can match to wavelengths of energy sent through the atmosphere exhausted but willing to move for you with you through the thickness and thin lines we draw over and over eventually becoming a deep trench of muscle memory allowing some to do and not think robotically sans emotion with beeps instead of deep beats one can dance to or overlay with words that don’t have to rhyme but flow with curvature in mind something to rely on through the ebb and flow like an oblong orbit in a gravitational pull towards the anchored core so dense and energetic it’s all a dance predictable repetitive sloppy chaotic and so attractive its phenomenal to be immersed completely to the point you have to ride the wavelength with eyes closed for rejuvenation cell repair and dreads to utilize that part of the brain.
(2) beginning of a walk a climb ascending while descending thoughts transfer through synapse into memories and absorbed by the walls containing them softly and stoically whispering the echoes that vibrate my eardrums and soul. I think deeply about the present and surviving after each beat each step each breath breathed in this -3- space and I slow the crescendo of a frantic brain to process what I bear witness to additive to -4- my system of values with definite pause in this case at a different moment in time that could be my life of something not selfish and slower less manic less national more all encompassing and human in the quality of emotional decisions to be -5- human and walk these stairs defying gravity raising the heart rate and circulating the blood that carries everything therefore everything all at once like shit hitting the fan to the point of laughter and realization of what matters and what should be talked about confronted faced dealt with accuse deny contemplate cry interpret fight believe in something you love you you you are the one taking the steps as so many have done before as they run their fingers up the fragile sturdy spiral structure where maybe a few wonder about the initial construction or the elevator the technology…walking is good for the human soul not to mention the physical body and oxygen access to the lower lobes of the lungs as I take a deep breath twice and again again it’s comforting
(3) equates to an experience where all experiences summed make up part of the self therefore the whole self is understood at the moment consciousness ceases to exist so can a goal come of all of this? One goal is to be aware and conscious of the things you value take care of these things look at these things hold these things in your beating heart until that moment when another takes care whom you’ve passed these things to
(4) slow the roll the pace the beat as long as the beat is good it will make me dance ~ and that’s the thing about interpretation = it as the capability to be both here and there meaning you will not be denied or ignored and this is ‘proven’ by mathematics at least they are working on why the human matters in existence that can be a reason for mistakes of success to name a positive…hold on I need to breathe for a sec…though energy is only transferred so keep breathing and exhaling back out into the atmosphere to take care of the world. It’s architecture is fragile. I cry and work when appropriate sometimes simultaneously when that shit does hit the fan because accepting mistakes by process and confrontation with humility and curiosity and audible silence meaning listening through the eardrums on both sides like this curved wall that carries sounds of anyone without question without judgment – just a sturdy ephemeral space
(5) ephemeral because of time that moves along with the wind that erodes particle by particle in slow motion compared to our walking and climbing. Time is different according to these walls who witness change caused by humans that breathe and play and argue hopefully forgiving human nature that can be utterly confusing to understand questions answers mistakes choices decisions results emotions language interpretation body language movement toward another human that moves mutually in value like honesty intention motivation all while being alive existing in the same space sharing oxygen and embracing physical presence of another brain while exploring what it all means…purpose is needed not in specificity but function which can evolve adapt be malleable like a sculpture with new meaning just by changing the title. It’s just a label anyway a way to categorize even if it doesn’t quite match because for some reason humans need to associate with something probably because that is how the neurons in the brain function synapsing by the electric spark that connects the present moment to a past memory and emotion already labeled with a value.
Contemplation, 2012. Arcade Gallery, Chicago, IL
Inkwell Stairwell, 2018. Sidestreet Gallery, Elgin, IL
