Michael t. hensley
"My current body of work is a reconciliation of my drawing and painting habits, combining them in new and unexpected ways. The goal is to find a balance between the light and the heavy, the spontaneous and the intentional, and in the end, revelation. The imagery is mostly autobiographical, coming from an emotional and automatic practice of mark making, collage, painting, and building layer upon layer of visual information. The idea is to reveal a glimpse of the subconscious as well as the outside world, an attempt to bring to the surface that which has never been seen before, and the thrill of the unexpected. I have been exploring a variety of mediums including pencil, acrylic paint, oil paint, spray paint, collage, paint pens, house paint - anything I can make a mark with, and mixing it all together. It is a way to challenge myself and to push in new directions. I want my work to show me things I have never seen before. Otherwise, it becomes predictable and loses its magic. My work is constantly evolving in this way, pushing the boundaries of what I already know."
Michael T. Hensley was born in 1967 in Charlottesville VA. He studied art in high school and, afterwards, worked as an apprentice to Robert E. Bricker at the Bronze Craft Foundry. He studied sculpting, lost wax casting, and drawing, as well as philosophy and mythology.