About

Michael Hess is a contemporary figurative painter who lives and works in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Originally from Massapequa, New York, his distinctive personal style strives to capture the unseen, underlying emotional landscape of his subjects.

Hess works primarily in oil and oil based mixed media focusing on the face and human form which he feels embodies the essence of beauty. With the dance of light and shadow set in a high contrast composition, “I am a story teller, inviting you to be drawn into this visual journey with me.”.

As a child, Hess doesn’t remember a time when he wasn’t drawing, doodling, painting or finding some creative outlet. He earned a degree with honors from SUNY Farmingdale in Advertising Art and Design and currently works as a senior designer in Allentown, Pennsylvania. His figurative work has been exhibited throughout the Lehigh Valley, at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, as well as various online juried competitions.

Education
SUNY Farmingdale, Advertising Art and Design 1992

Group Exhibitions

2019 Allentown Art Museum, Cocktails & Collecting fundraiser, showing artist, Allentown Pa.

2018 Art of the State, Juried Show, The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg Pa.

2016-17 Winter Show, Bethlehem House Gallery, Bethlehem, Pa.

2015-16 Holiday Show, Bethlehem House Gallery, Bethlehem, Pa.

2014 Exhibition at The Wooden Match, Bethlehem, Pa.

2013 The First Four, Fegley’s, Allentown, Pa.

Awards/competition
2015 ArtPop Lehigh Valley Finalist

2014 Light, Space and Time (3 Pieces), Placed: (1) First Place Overall in Figurative Category, (1) Honorable Mention and (1) Special Merit

Press
Fall 2019, Fig Bethlehem, Arts and Culture issue, article.

February 2015 PBS FOCUS featuring ArtPop and interview with artist.

April 2015 PEAK TV Season 6, Adams Outdoor Advertising, ArtPop and interview with artist.

Artists Statement

I am fascinated by the human face, the play of light, shadow and soul coalescing in a spellbinding dance. What lies below the surface both fascinates and drives me. I try to capture the qualities of the unseen, that emotion, incomplete memory or fragmented thought I feel while absorbed in the process.

I work in a number of mediums however I am most attracted to oil and oil based mixed media because for me, there is a depth and feel I can’t find in any other, allowing me confidence to pursue ever changing avenues I would not normally consider. While my roots were planted in technical realism, currently I am exploring a far more expressive tone, incorporating very intentional color, composition and movement within these images. My primary subject matter includes the face and human form. For me they embody the essence of beauty which is the underlying theme of my art as a whole.

I feel my work, these pieces as more than a just a passive, literal representation of a person but their soul visualizing its voice.