Michelle Forsyth

For March 24, 1989, 2011
Watercolor, screenprint, and ColorAid paper, dimensions variable.

I made For March 24, 1989 in response to the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill of 1989. The piece rests on the surface of the floor like a large stain of sickly color. Sallow yellows, undersaturated red-oranges and pallid purples mix with strips of grey wet-on-wet watercolors and bright, sky blue screenprints to mimic colors seen in photographs of the spill. Glued together with pva, the piece measures only 1/2 an inch in height and is meant to be assembled in a different formation in each show it travels to in order to enhance the nature of the spill’s movement over time. The piece occupies roughly 110 square feet when installed or 1/100th of the size of the Valdez spill. The spill was the largest one in U.S. waters until the Deepwater Horizon spill of last year in terms of volume. Making this piece was particularly poignant for me because it affected the waters in Canada where I grew up. Raised on a sailboat, I developed a relationship with the sea. Working with paper is an impulse that stems from that childhood spent on the sailboat where the portability of the material provided an economic means to occupy time. Rolling it, cutting it, marking on it—from thousands of looped strips of paper to hundreds of diluted layers of watercolor—is an expression of my relationship with the passing of time.

For March 24, 1989, 2011
Watercolor, screenprint, and ColorAid paper, dimensions variable.

For September Second, 2010.
Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches.

For AmoArt, I created an installation based on the crash of Swissair flight 111. I first traveled to the site of the crash in 2007 to document it and discovered a grey coastal landscape embedded in fog. The work is made up of silhouettes of foliage from costal Nova Scotia and is built in a wave-like formation to mimic the silvery surface of the Atlantic Ocean as seen from the site of the memorial.

For September Second, 2010.
Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches.

Drift, 2009.
Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, felt, beads, sequins, monofilament, eye hooks, wood and wire, 60 x 60 x 180 inches.

Made initially as a study for and installation about the Swissair flight 111 crash, Drift is composed of hundreds of stacked and cut paper shapes that have been strung up on individual lines of monofilament to create a horizontal plane that moves a little in the ambient air current to mimic the surface of water.

Canopy, 2009.
Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches.

About the Work
Late in October of 1947, southern Maine suffered tremendous losses due to forest fires. The town of Waterboro was one of the hardest hit. Most of its land area burned and twenty-five cottages on Little Ossipee Lake were lost. Inspired by these fires, I photographed the re-grown forest canopy in Waterboro. I then created an installation that replicated the colors depicted in one of the photographs. Unlike much of my other work I strayed from the photograph and instead tried to create a space for wonder.

Canopy Remnants, 2009.
Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, wire, straight pins, T-pins, and aluminum coated fabric on framed table, 24 x 60 x 30 inches.
[ collection of the University of Southern Maine ]

Inspired by the Great Fires of ’47 that ravished much of southern Maine, including the town of Waterboro, I photographed the re-grown forest canopy in Waterboro. I then created an installation that replicated the colors depicted in one of the photographs. Canopy consisted of thousands of hand-screened, hand-cut, and wire-mounted, leaf-shaped pieces of paper suspended from monofilament. The pinholes in this table that were left over by the process, which I used with my students to make the individual components for the installation, were then covered with the remnants from the installation.

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NEW WORK Dark Watercolors & Weavings PROJECTS Installations Text Work Ostinatos One Hundred Drawings Small Watercolors Sunday Paintings Florescence Trauma Paintings Prints + Multiples SELECTED EXHIBITIONS After For September Second Over & Over Canopy Cutters Field Work Tacoma Contemporary Then & There Paperwork Sundays Young Painters SELECTED RESIDENCIES Centrum Frans Masereel Centrum				Prev \| Next *For March 24, 1989, 2011 Watercolor, screenprint, and ColorAid paper, dimensions variable. I made For March 24, 1989* in response to the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill of 1989. The piece rests on the surface of the floor like a large stain of sickly color. Sallow yellows, undersaturated red-oranges and pallid purples mix with strips of grey wet-on-wet watercolors and bright, sky blue screenprints to mimic colors seen in photographs of the spill. Glued together with pva, the piece measures only 1/2 an inch in height and is meant to be assembled in a different formation in each show it travels to in order to enhance the nature of the spill’s movement over time. The piece occupies roughly 110 square feet when installed or 1/100th of the size of the Valdez spill. The spill was the largest one in U.S. waters until the Deepwater Horizon spill of last year in terms of volume. Making this piece was particularly poignant for me because it affected the waters in Canada where I grew up. Raised on a sailboat, I developed a relationship with the sea. Working with paper is an impulse that stems from that childhood spent on the sailboat where the portability of the material provided an economic means to occupy time. Rolling it, cutting it, marking on it—from thousands of looped strips of paper to hundreds of diluted layers of watercolor—is an expression of my relationship with the passing of time. *For March 24, 1989, 2011 Watercolor, screenprint, and ColorAid paper, dimensions variable. For March 24, 1989, 2011 Watercolor, screenprint, and ColorAid paper, dimensions variable. For March 24, 1989, 2011 Watercolor, screenprint, and ColorAid paper, dimensions variable. For March 24, 1989, 2011 Watercolor, screenprint, and ColorAid paper, dimensions variable. For March 24, 1989, 2011 Watercolor, screenprint, and ColorAid paper, dimensions variable. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For AmoArt, I created an installation based on the crash of Swissair flight 111. I first traveled to the site of the crash in 2007 to document it and discovered a grey coastal landscape embedded in fog. The work is made up of silhouettes of foliage from costal Nova Scotia and is built in a wave-like formation to mimic the silvery surface of the Atlantic Ocean as seen from the site of the memorial. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. For September Second, 2010. Watercolor and screenprint on paper, silver thread, zip ties, beads, sequins, and monofilament, 144 x 96 x 24 inches. Drift, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, felt, beads, sequins, monofilament, eye hooks, wood and wire, 60 x 60 x 180 inches. Made initially as a study for and installation about the Swissair flight 111 crash, Drift* is composed of hundreds of stacked and cut paper shapes that have been strung up on individual lines of monofilament to create a horizontal plane that moves a little in the ambient air current to mimic the surface of water. *Drift, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, felt, beads, sequins, monofilament, eye hooks, wood and wire, 60 x 60 x 180 inches. Drift, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, felt, beads, sequins, monofilament, eye hooks, wood and wire, 60 x 60 x 180 inches. Drift, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, felt, beads, sequins, monofilament, eye hooks, wood and wire, 60 x 60 x 180 inches. Drift, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, felt, beads, sequins, monofilament, eye hooks, wood and wire, 60 x 60 x 180 inches. Drift, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, felt, beads, sequins, monofilament, eye hooks, wood and wire, 60 x 60 x 180 inches. Drift, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, felt, beads, sequins, monofilament, eye hooks, wood and wire, 60 x 60 x 180 inches. Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. About the Work Late in October of 1947, southern Maine suffered tremendous losses due to forest fires. The town of Waterboro was one of the hardest hit. Most of its land area burned and twenty-five cottages on Little Ossipee Lake were lost. Inspired by these fires, I photographed the re-grown forest canopy in Waterboro. I then created an installation that replicated the colors depicted in one of the photographs. Unlike much of my other work I strayed from the photograph and instead tried to create a space for wonder. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy,* 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, glassine, wire, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, eyehooks and monofilament, 216 x 216 x 240 inches. *Canopy Remnants, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, wire, straight pins, T-pins, and aluminum coated fabric on framed table, 24 x 60 x 30 inches. [ collection of the University of Southern Maine ] Inspired by the Great Fires of ’47 that ravished much of southern Maine, including the town of Waterboro, I photographed the re-grown forest canopy in Waterboro. I then created an installation that replicated the colors depicted in one of the photographs. Canopy* consisted of thousands of hand-screened, hand-cut, and wire-mounted, leaf-shaped pieces of paper suspended from monofilament. The pinholes in this table that were left over by the process, which I used with my students to make the individual components for the installation, were then covered with the remnants from the installation. *Canopy Remnants, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, wire, straight pins, T-pins, and aluminum coated fabric on framed table, 24 x 60 x 30 inches. [ collection of the University of Southern Maine ] Canopy Remnants, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, wire, straight pins, T-pins, and aluminum coated fabric on framed table, 24 x 60 x 30 inches. [ collection of the University of Southern Maine ] Canopy Remnants*, 2009. Screenprint on hand-cut Arches 90lb. watercolor paper, Hahnemuhle photo ink jet paper, watercolor on paper, ColorAid paper, sandpaper, beads, rubber stoppers, sequins, yarn, wire, straight pins, T-pins, and aluminum coated fabric on framed table, 24 x 60 x 30 inches. [ collection of the University of Southern Maine ]