Michelle Stuart
1933–
The earth’s physicality has fascinated Michelle Stuart since childhood. Her work often examines landscape as both a metaphor for memory and the sense of place we seek as human beings. Like other artists associated with the movement known as Land art, Stuart has investigated sites as a symbolic abstraction—a concept she understood well from her work as a cartographer in the mid-1960s. Her piece #28 Moray Hill challenges traditional ideas of drawing and its boundaries by combining performative gestures with found materials.
This large, scrolling sheet of paper is scaled to the body and extends down the wall, creating a dimensional presence and invoking actual terrain, as if one might enter into it. Through size, proportion, and shape, the artist alludes to the way in which we inhabit the landscape. The title refers to the location where Stuart found the rocks and earth, which she then used as both a medium and a drawing instrument. Using muslin-backed paper allowed her to aggressively smash these materials into the sheet without tearing it. This technique resulted in a pitted surface, indexing the site used to make the piece, while mimicking dirt and earth more generally. Stuart added aluminum powder to create a sheen, so the work’s visual qualities change depending on lighting and viewing angle. This drawing is part of a group of related works that Stuart created in a similar format using the same special paper, all of which reveal her experimental approaches to materials and process while referencing the earth both literally and metaphorically.
Introduction
Michelle Stuart (born 1933) is an American multidisciplinary artist known for her sculpture, painting and environmental art. She is based in New York City.
Wikidata identifier
Q6837258
Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed May 9, 2025.
Introduction
Various reference sources cite birth date discrepancies which range from 1919, 1928,1938, and 1940.
Country of birth
United States
Roles
Artist, conceptual artist, painter, sculptor
ULAN identifier
500120723
Names
Michelle Stuart
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed May 9, 2025.
