Interview with Michael Pfleghaar, Still Lifes Between Realism and Abstraction

“My artistic type lies someplace between abstraction and realism with colourist sensibility.”

By Rise Artwork | 21 Sept 2022

Michael Pfleghaar has not too long ago joined Increase Artwork, bringing his Hockneyesque Still Lifes works to the system. Michael is an illustrator, painter and ceramicist. Discovering elements of self-reflection and materiality, the artist applies flat area, uncomplicated, clean up lines, and well balanced nonetheless daring colors to his functions, creates archaeological dialogues between scenes, configurations, and objects.

Michael applying underglaze to some new greenware ceramic sculptures (@pfleghaar)

How would you describe your artistic design?

My inventive type lies somewhere in between abstraction and realism with colourist sensibility. My purpose is to incorporate the two opposing creative designs into a distinctive visual language characterised by flattened place and exaggerated color. Modern design is also an affect in my function as it looks to abide by a related visual aesthetic and content for matter make any difference.

Reliable Liquid Glass, 2019, by Michael Pfleghaar

What messages or themes do you want to talk with your work?

The important concept in my get the job done is interactions. Objects and crops depicted in my compositions come to be the surrogates for the determine and how they relate to each and every other visually and symbolically.

Wire Plant Stand, 2019, by Michael Pfleghaar

How has your observe advanced around the a long time? Have you constantly worked in an abstract type?

More than the several years my artwork practice has diverse from dim figurative narratives in my undergraduate scientific tests to private inside areas and even now lifetime. In graduate school my do the job developed to fully non-goal although working with the exact same themes of relationships. I have considering that come back again to realism drawing from existence as an autobiographical software when combining things of abstraction.

Michael doing work on a dwelling venture at home (@pfleghaar)

What is an typical working day like in your studio? 

I see myself as an artwork employee so my studio observe is precedence. On a usual working day I arrive all over 9am and work on many paintings at the exact time. Commonly one significant scale piece on canvas and a few drawings. I enjoy making in series as perfectly, exploring themes via a overall body of get the job done. Afternoons are invested accomplishing the business facet of artwork, documenting operate, updating internet websites, making use of for displays, and many others.

Monstera Shadows 1, 2021, by Michael Pfleghaar

What/Who are your vital influences?

My influences differ from previous university painters this kind of as Henri Matisse and Pierre Bonnard. Contemporaries like David Hockney, Jonas Wood, Paul Wackers, Nathalie du Pasquier, Carrie Moyer, Amy Sillman and modernist designers this sort of as Ettore Sottsass, Charles and Ray Eames, and Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

Agave at Night time, 2021, by Michael Pfleghaar

Who are some Rise Art artists with work you might be taking pleasure in at the second?

Lisa Kellner went to the exact Graduate Faculty in Boston as I, so I take pleasure in and found her operate on Rise Art.

Dim Botanical 4, 2022, by Michael Pfleghaar

Are you presently performing on any thrilling new initiatives?

This yr has been a hectic 1 in the studio with a lot of commission paintings and finding back into clay making a human body of botanical influenced ceramic objects.