Born and raised in Long Island, New York, artist Michael Livolsi has been drawing and painting since childhood. Observation has become a critical tool for the artist, who is heavily inspired by the natural world. Livolsi travels to various locations to inspire his creativity, his work becoming a reflection of his experiences. Over the last several years, he has become increasingly interested in trees, as he believes they display a strong, inherent character. Livolsi has studied their depictions across eras and cultures, including European mythology and the Japanese art of bonsai. Livolsi’s eclectic sources of inspiration also include European romanticism, comic books, and science fiction.
These disparate yet somehow congruous influences fuse to create work that presents a unique sense of intensity and movement. Livolsi is technically versatile and his compositions alternate between abstract painting and ink & graphite drawing. Though his techniques may vary, he always remains true to his artistic mission: “I hope to express a profound sense of visual depth and interest through the use of dynamic composition and a variety of mixed media. I also wish to express my love of nature, especially through my ink drawings.”