Michelle Forsyth, Associate Professor
Painting and Drawing
Fine Arts Department
Washington State University
5072 Fine Arts Center
Pullman WA 99164
Office Hours: by appointment
Office Room #: FA 7015
Office Tel: (509) 335 - 3278
mforsyth@wsu.edu
Fine Arts homepage
College of Liberal Arts
WSU Libraries
>> Teaching
My research is concerned with the relationship between the tradition of painting and the growing field of digital media. My research in these two areas feeds directly into my work as a faculty member within the Department of Fine Arts at Washington State University, whose evolving philosophy is concerned with technology's role within artistic practice. I have been at WSU since 2002 and currently teach courses in painting and drawing as well as a graduate seminar.
In the classroom, I promote performative, electronic and virtual activities in addition to object making and encourage my students to develop interdisciplinary approaches to their work. To ensure that my students have the opportunity to succeed in these endeavors, I promote the exploration of ideas and believe that students can learn as much about their chosen discipline through the production of their work as they can from reading about the theoretical issues that are important in their field.
[ For students requiring letters of recommendation, please click here for guidelines. ]
>> My
Work
Born in Vancouver, BC in 1972, I hold an MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, and a BFA from the University of Victoria. In the studio, I am most concerned with the visceral qualities of the hand-made and the power it holds to counter the potential dehumanization of rapidly transmitted, and publicly consumed images of spectacle. My work is represented by The Hogar Collection (Brooklyn, NY); Third Avenue Gallery (Vancouver, BC); Zaum Projects (Lisbon, Portugal); and The Lorinda Knight Gallery (Spokane, WA). I recently received second prize in the William and Dorothy Yeck Award for Young Painters Competition at Miami University in Oxford, OH and in the fall of 2008 my work will be included in the forthcoming book, Carte Blanche, Vol. 2 - Painting, a survey and showcase of the current state of Canadian Painting. I have taught courses at Pratt Institute (New York, NY); Brooklyn College (Brooklyn, NY) and Raritan Valley Community College (Sommerville, NJ).
[ download cv .pdf ]
[ download artist statement .pdf ]