Artist Focus: Michele Poirier Mozzone

One beautiful afternoon at the pool in 2011, Michele Poirier Mozzone was struck by the effects of the ribbons of sunlight on her daughter through the moving water. “I was also keenly aware of catching this lovely, brief moment with her before it flickered by,” says the artist. “I grabbed the camera and took numerous photos in hopes of finding inspiration for a new painting.” That was the beginning of her Fractured Light series, a subject that still excites and fascinates Poirier Mozzone to this day.

Bubble Up, oil on canvas, 24 x 24”

Wallflower, oil on canvas, 40 x 30”

“I am inspired to capture the unique feelings and distinct associations of the body suspended in water and time,” she says. “This series allows me to paint what I love—the figure—while exploring areas of fluid abstraction that exist naturally in turbulent, sunlight-drenched water. As a vehicle for life, cleansing, change, renewal and death, water lends meaning to the work. Bubbles are placeholders for ideas and intentions rising to the open air. The viewer is invited to occupy and interpret each captured moment. I hope they find this unique atmosphere as extraordinary as I do.”