Triple threat Michele Swersey – graphic designer, jewelry maker and painter – is currently showcasing her work at the Freeport Memorial Library.
Swersey’s exhibit, “Dream Obscurer,” will be on display until Wednesday, July 30.
Swersey’s love for art began when she received second place in an art competition at five years old. Since then, art has been a constant in Swersey’s life.
“It’s very cathartic,” Swersey said. “It was a way for me to escape whatever problems are going on. I can always escape into my art.”
“Dream Obscurer” is a compilation of acrylic on paper paintings that explore the disorienting and unsettling space between sleep and wakefulness. To fully explore this theme, many of these pieces feature a sleeping girl battling sleep paralysis and different phobias, including monsters, bugs, and reptiles.
“I had a best friend pass away from cancer, and the first painting that I did was of a woman sleeping with ‘Death’ playing with her hair,” Swersey said. “It had to do with the idea of sleep paralysis, where your body is paralyzed, but your mind is awake, and you can’t get yourself to wake up.”
Most of Swersey’s paintings, which take months to complete, are purely instinctual. The theme, meaning, and content of each painting are decided as she creates it and afterward.
“I don’t know what I’m gonna paint until I paint it,” Swersey said. “So, I don’t know what the theme is, and as I’m drawing, it just comes out.”
Even though Swersey has been creating since she was young, she knew she didn’t want to pursue being a painter full-time. She currently works at Schneps Media LI.
“I decided not to make [art] something that I would make money from, because I wanted to paint what I wanted to paint,” Swersey said. “I didn’t want to tell me what to do, and I find it very cathartic and therapeutic.”
Despite not wanting to be a full-time painter, Swersey has been able to keep art in her life by becoming a graphic designer and by being hired to paint the likeness of people’s houses.
Since her showcase, though, Swersey has been open to selling her pieces. If you want to buy a piece from Swersey’s collection or speak with the artist herself, email her at mermaidsnmayhem@gmail.com.
“I think [art is] part of what defines me,” Swersey said. “I feel like I would not be happy if I were not painting at any time. So, it’s always a part of me.”
