Featured Artist: Michael Lambert
First Friday Scranton is proud to feature Michael Lambert as an artist in its 3rd Annual Art Auction being held Friday May 11th, 2012 at the Scranton Cultural Center.
Primarily a painter, Michael has been making art in the area for some time, “I was born in Scranton, PA in 1975 and have resided in Northeast PA for my entire life. I’ve been interested in drawing, cartooning, painting, music and writing as long as I can remember and have been an active musician since the age of 12.” Throughout high school and college Mike divided his focus between music and art, pondering if he would eventually have to make a choice between the two, “to pursue wholeheartedly one or the other.” He now believes that “one art form is a respite from the other and at the same time a catalyst and facilitator, each for the other. They relate very much to one another as it pertains to my work as a whole”.
A life-long need to ‘create’ led him to college where he received a BFA in Painting from Marywood University. There he met a number of talented mentors and teachers whom he grew to respect. Following college, Mike said he experienced events that still resonate deeply with him. “Nothing has impacted me more than being a father.” These days, he works out of his home in Elk Mountain, where nature plays an integral part of his process. “At first it was an increased and overwhelming feeling of isolation, but soon it was a facilitator for a stronger connection to nature. I’ve spent a significant amount of time having specifically the human condition preoccupy my work, but this experience has me incorporating the relationship of nature, to the corporeal, emotional and the spiritual.” Translated in his own work Mike feels it the duty of the artist is, “to get people to slow down and think and feel and have empathy and understanding for one another.”
You’ll be able to bid on works from Michael’s collection and a number of other outstanding artists on May 11th, 6pm at the Scranton Cultural Center. To see more of Michael’s work, visit him here.
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