Biography

This is the biography of Michal Plis:

 

My mother was an artist, a painter and a sculptor before I was born, she studied in an art college in my small town called Koszalin on the Baltic coast in the Pomeranian region of Poland. She died when I was 3 years old, then after several years, at the age of 7 I stumbled upon some of her art tools in cupboards in my room, and I started to use those tools automatically without even thinking, although as a child oil paints were difficult to understand . I found that I was pretty good at it without any training. Then our life was turned upside down when we moved to Melbourne, Australia.

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In Melbourne I started painting quite a bit in my bedroom after we arrived, buying some paints and drawing in high school between the age of thirteen and 18. during year 11 and 12 in 1999 and 2000 I attended the Hallam High school then part of Eumemmerring Secondary College. There we had professional artists in residence, unfortunately I forgot their names. One was male and one was female. They both had really interesting perspectives on various materials and I observed every moment of it. I was ordered as top student in my college for 1999 and 2000, and my art teachers groomed me for attending the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) which is the highest art college in Victoria. But I was never someone who liked schools and I didn't like to be conformed. Also I had other spiritual aspirations and other reasons why I didn't go.

 

According to Jerry Saltz in his book "How to be an artist" He says that you don't have to go to art schools to be a good artist, But you have to work hard at getting better. So after I completed year 12 in high school that was the end of my art education. Especially because I noticed that the two artists in residence we're going from commission to commission, living very poor lives. So I ended up going into information technology for the next 20 years (2001-2021) in terms of earning a living. 

 

From 2001 I did a few paintings mostly covering landscapes, nature and animals, then the realisation of the loss of my mother made it more and more difficult for me to continue doing art because I felt it attached a lot to her and reminded me of her and made it painful with that loss so It was hard to make art. I did occasionally paint and make sculptures over the next 10 years or so but It got so painful that I stopped making art around 2011 altogether.

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With the painful experiences and isolation of lockdowns between 2020 and 2021, I discovered towards the end of 2022 that art was therapeutic and helps to reduce stress and anxiety. So with a more stable view of the loss of my mother and the association to art, I joined a local adult learning centre in Glen Eira for an acrylic painting class with art teacher Setareh Hosseini, a well known Iranian artist to "brush up" on my art skills. I also have signed up to regular art therapy which is a great way to visually work through things. 

 

I have a home studio in Melbourne to make paintings and sculptures. The subject matter I'm interested in is nature and space both the micro and the macro. I deeply absorb myself in every subject matter that I paint or sculpt. I research it and study it and get fixated on it. I try and draw out the deep emotions that are coming out from what I'm looking at and then I try to represent that vibrance & essence.

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I like to paint with acrylic on canvas or board and I will be focusing on flowers close up and I'm blending it with space and sci-fi. I also like making tabletop sculptures out of wire and various other materials and techniques. I'm obsessed with transparent materials as well as stone and steel. Any of the tabletop sculptures that I'm making can in the future be made to larger size freestanding versions upon request, as a special order. I don't do commissions for paintings or sculptures. I believe in free thinking and free creating so I cannot be bound by people asking for requests. I hope nobody is offended by that. 

 

Among other artists, some of my influences are Georgia O'Keefe, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Leonardo Da Vinci and Eddy Maniez among others. I continue to expand my knowledge in art history and I will continue studying all art movements in both sculpture and painting. Thanks to the internet, I've got access to the entire world's history and can study all the artists remotely. But I also visit art galleries and learn from other artists to find my style and way of doing things.

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What does the future hold for my art making?

 

In my opinion, l think art making has to be enjoyable because life is full of sadness. I also don’t like doing repetitive artwork but I will study subject matters that interest me. I will stick to certain subject matter because people like standardisation in an industrial world. But I will also study additional subject matter and mediums behind the scenes.

 

I'll continue to expand my knowledge of the universe and nature in order to represent it more deeply in my art and develop a unique style/movement. I want to continue to travel around everywhere to get inspirations and ideas for my artworks. One day I would like to have a chance to go on a spaceship and fly to the moon or elsewhere if the opportunity arises. I also have a dream to visit tropical islands in the Pacific one day. 

 

Although I don't think it's a good idea to relegate art making to artificial intelligence (ai), I think I will use Ai art generators and Ai text generators to help me get inspired and gather ideas to paint my own paintings in the coming years as a human. 

 

Without revealing too much I am a neurodivergent artist and have a unique perspective on the world and I would love for you to buy my art and enjoy what I see in my world. I am not very good at social stuff or communicating so my art speaks louder than words.

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Theme song for my biography:  "A way to focus the mind" by The fires of ork (a collaboration between Biosphere & Peter Namlook). The song has exerpts from the show called Star Trek Voyager when a holographic Leonardo DaVinci is met by Captain Janeway and he discusses his creativity in episode entitled "Scorpion".

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My art journey continues...

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Regards, 

Michal Plis

Melbourne, Australia

16/02/2023