Michelle Devlin: bird fang studio

Michelle Devlin operates under the moniker bird fang studio. Her work spans both Graphic Design (books, fonts, logos, branding, web) and Fine Art (painting, drawing, photography, prints), and explores themes of physicality, technology, meditation, and repetition in relation to the medium of the Internet.

"I recently decided to combine my design and artistic practice under the same name, bird fang studio. My practices have influenced each other for a couple of years now, but I felt they weren't quite enough the same in order to allow one to absorb the other. Creating a studio to encompass the two practices felt like the best way to have them co-exist. The studio name, bird fang, derives from the street I grew up on, Biradan Fahang, while living on the island of Guam - a U.S. territory located in the West Pacific Ocean. I steered towards a sentimental name because it allowed me to cherish each practice equally. Also, I tied the studio name to an interesting mental image which has the flexibility to encompass a wider range of creative disciplines.

Currently, I am thinking about the physicality of technology, the internet, and social media on the aesthetic of my work. I use a pixelated style to remind viewers, and myself, of the materiality of the screen: that we're looking at small lights clustered to form a complex grid; that we're looking at a representation, not the physical object. At times, I contrast this idea by creating drawings that are intended for viewing on the screen. So, when I print these images, something strange happens in my mind where I enjoy having a tangible piece that's representative of my work, but it's a different work entirely. That tension interests me, whether to execute a project as physical or digital for the sake of optimizing a project's message.

I find freedom in the seen and unseen constraints of the internet, of thinking about where my artwork is most likely to be seen and archived, given what I perceive as the current pace of the relationship between art & tech. The routine of creating artwork destined for the web feels like I'm pipelining my creativity into a digital void. But, I would rather have my artwork tucked away on the internet than collecting dust in the basement.

Another theme I think about is the correlation between the act of meditation and repetition. As someone who has been trying to be more diligent with mental health, I have tried (and mostly failed) to meditate and practice being mindful. My mind & hands are too fidgety, so I have resorted to creating artwork which employs repetitive forms, like painting a single type of line across a large board to form a composition, or threading red/blue string through individual sheets of a gridded-paper notebook. Using repetition allows me to feel my emotions about my life while I'm making artwork without much concern about messing up the shape of a line or a box.

Before the pandemic was in full swing, I had just finished a volunteer branding project with Barrett Art Center based in Poughkeepsie, NY, USA. The following week, I came down with an intense sinus infection and was off work for a couple of weeks. During my sick leave, I started a new painting and was applying to artist residencies because I began to feel like I was ready to move on from my day job. It was then that the pandemic took hold and I was forced to work from home. I took this as a sign from the universe to return to the arts. These conditions have led me to move towards what I had been wanting to do since I left my undergraduate program, but couldn't because life and opportunities weren't lining up the way I hoped they would. The pandemic has given me the chance to reflect on the importance of my practice and to finally prioritize it."

You can see more of Michelle's work on her website and follow her on Instagram.

CuratorSpace are currently featuring articles by artists, curators and organisations who want to share their experiences of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, whether that is artists using their practice as a way of exploring new boundaries of isolation, or as a way to connect more broadly with their communities. We are also interested in hearing from curators and organisations who are offering support to artists and audiences during this time.

Contact us at louise@curatorspace.com to share your story.
 

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