Michelle Davis Petelinz

I often work in a series, visually exploring the cultural significance of decoration and symbology. Influences include the Ndebele painted houses of South Africa; Korhogo cloth patterns from the Ivory Coast; Ghanaian gold weights; Bogolan mud cloth from Mali; and patterns used in Ethiopian body painting. My goal is to interpret these visual elements so they will resonate with the viewer as objects at once unusual and familiar; evoking ancestral and contemporary design, speaking across cultures to the deep well of the universal.