I was always interested in art, but I had never picked up a pencil or brush until I took my first art class at the age of thirty. I started taking design classes because I was frustrated with food brokerage sales and was interested in pursuing a career which would allow for more creativity in my life.
After a number of classes geared toward a career in design, I found myself more and more attracted to fine arts classes – figurative painting, anatomy, color theory, and so on. After attending a number of these classes, I decided to start painting on my own.
In addition to attending classes, I have done a lot of studying of art history on my own, and I am especially attracted to the works of the Expressionists – Beck, Munch, Korsikov, etc. – which became a jumping-off point for my own work. It is great to push the envelope, but you have to have a place to start from. Those who went before us provided that.
The Assemblage work I create is an offshoot of my desire to express myself through my work. I’m a Los Angeles-based artist and all of my work is biographical in one form or another, either my own or my family’s history.
Michael Hemphill
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