Michelle Davis Petelinz is An Award-winning mixed media artist. her work reflects her African American and Native American Heritage, Expressed in home Décor.

ARTIST STATEMENT: As I create my mixed media work, I am irresistibly drawn to incorporate symbols, patterns, textures and colors found in African and Native American cultures which are my heritage.  My wall pieces feature original, hand cut stamps; low-fire clay; gelatin prints; metallic threads; paper beads; and hand painted papers. Natural elements of wood, feathers, shells, stones, and bone beads imbue my work with strong tribal connections.

I often work in a series, visually exploring the cultural significance of decoration and symbology.  My influences include the Ndebele painted  houses of South Africa; Korhogo cloth patterns from the Ivory Coast; Ghanaian gold weights; Bogolan mud cloth from Mali; patterns used in scarification; and Ethiopian body painting.  My goal is to interpret these visual elements to resonate with the viewer as objects at once unusual and familiar; evoking ancestral and contemporary design, speaking across cultures to the deep well of the universal.