Michelle Silver

Born in 1987 in the Catskills, NY.
Lives and works in the Hudson Valley, NY.

Statement & Bio

 Michelle Silver explores the contradictions inherent in motherhood: the tension between creation and destruction, restriction and permission, duty and desire, and control and surrender. Her gestural brushstrokes make clear the restless exchange between her body and her material. They evoke the violence of childbirth, and, with it, the visceral destruction of her body and mind, while simultaneously acknowledging society’s idealized role for her as one who is called upon to give love, heal wounds, and hold discomfort for her progeny. 

 Silver has exhibited throughout the U.S. and in the U.K. and has had five solo exhibitions, most recently a solo show with Elijah Wheat Showroom in Germantown, NY and a public art exhibition with ChaShaMa in the lobby of 1155 6th Avenue, NYC. She is the Co-Founder and Gallery Director of Distortion Society in Beacon, NY and the Art Director for Surface Design Association. Her painting In the Belly of the Beast was selected as a Finalist for the Spring 2025 Homiens Art Prize. Her work is part of the Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection and in private collections throughout the United States and in Australia. Her painting and curation have been included in publications such as The New York Times, Hyperallergic, Cool Hunting, Surface Magazine, Arts to Hearts Project, Times Union, Two Coats of Paint, Artscope Magazine, Art Business News, and Chronogram.

Works

Conservation of Energy, 2025
Oil on linen
24 x 20 inches
What She Builds, She Must Destroy II, 2025
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 inches
Decreation, 2025
Oil on linen
20 x 24 inches
Hidden Pleasure, 2025
Oil on linen
30 x 24 inches
Only in Dreams III, 2025
Oil on canvas
60 x 48 inches
Lucid, 2025
Oil on linen
40 x 30 inches
Explosions in the Sky, 2026
Oil on linen
24 x 20 inches
Harness, 2025
Oil on linen
8 x 10 inches
Soft Animal, 2026
Oil on canvas
8 x 10 inches
The Dancer, 2024
Oil on canvas
30 x 24 inches
Through you I see myself, 2026
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 inches

Selected
Exhibitions

Devour
Elijah Wheat Showroom at Mother-in Law’s, Germantown, NY 
June – September 2026
Moth and Monster
1155 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY
September – November 2025
What She Builds, She Must Destroy
Distortion Society, Beacon, NY
June – August 2025
Between Facing Mirrors
Super Secret Projects, Beacon, NY
November – December 2023

Recent Press

Surface Magazine, “160 Hudson Valley and Catskills Organizations Unite for Upstate Art Weekend 2026,” David Graver, June 22, 2026.
Arts to Hearts Project, “How Does Motherhood Change the Way We Make Art?,” Afsheen Adnan, November 1, 2025.
Chronogram, “Art Everywhere, All at Once: A Road-Tripping Recap of Upstate Art Weekend,” Taliesan Thomas, July 21, 2025.
The New York Times, “New York’s Best Summer Art Shows Are Upstate,” Will Heinrich, July 17, 2025.
Cool Hunting, “Upstate Art Weekend 2025 Expands to Include Over 155 Participants,” Becky Eaton, July 8, 2025.
Hyperallergic, “10 Art Shows to See in Upstate New York This July,” Taliesin Thomas, July 6, 2025.

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