Artist Michael Thoresen made his ArtRat Gallery debut at our “Lucky 13” show for ArtPrize 2024. Now he’s back as part of our “Presence” holiday gift show, featuring small works on paper he created as “100 Drawings in 100 Days.”
A Detroit native who’s lived in Boston and exhibited nationally, Michael is currently based in Ann Arbor. He recently completed a series of black-and-white paintings for the new novel Intelligence Without Thumbs by Michael Schulze.
ArtRat’s “Presence” also features work by Kat Kallen. In addition, we're showing original art from Sedgewina and Nancy Tobin as well as a cornucopia of art supplies, cozy fashions, kids’ stuff, bath and body products — plus ArtRat’s original character designs and logo wear!
To put a conceptual frame around his artwork, ArtRat asked Michael a few questions about his process.
The works you’ve contributed to “Presence” are the product of a personal project to create 100 drawings in 100 days. The result is a tremendously varied collection of compact and compelling abstract images. What impelled you to undertake it, and how did that commitment shape the choices you made over time?
the initial idea for the '100 drawings' came after a time of not creating any new work. during those times, i'd often have pencils, oil crayons, and paper nearby.
this time though, a few months went by and i decided to create a challenge for myself. make one piece each day for 100 days.
the only rule was, at the end of the day, the piece was finished. no adding on in the morning. start fresh.
What techniques did you incorporate in the series?
the materials were varied. pencil, acrylic, oil crayons. sometimes there were collage elements and for some i created a tool out of a wood block and those mesh bags that clementine oranges come in.
the difference with this project and the larger oils were to encourage me to keep working every day. i figured that i would learn something new and hopefully be inspired to create some more larger paintings down the road.
You were one of the artists in ArtRat’s “Lucky 13” exhibition for ArtPrize 2024. Is there a common thread between Rock Garden (your oil-on-canvas ArtPrize entry) and these smaller works?
as far as common thread, i always improvise. there are no sketches beforehand. when 'rock garden' was finished, i named it on the spot. that's the first thought that came to mind. it was never intended to be 'impressionistic' or 'realistic' in any way.
i didn't know what i was doing until i finished it.
