Interview with Michelle Torres
Michelle Torres
My name is Michelle Torres. I'm from Santa Ana California, but I've called Texas my home for about 15 years. Right now I really love working with oil paints.
What are you currently working on?
My body of work at the moment is focusing on my personal life. Who I am, where I come from, I would like to talk about my parents, and my perspective on growing as a first-generation college student from immigrant parents. And some of the people I grew up with. To me this body of work is in its beginning stages, I have a lot more to go.
How is your studio space set up?
My room is also my studio. I do my best to keep it all organized.
Who are your current favorite artists/artists that influence you?
Some artists that I follow right now are Emilia Cruz and Sergio Teran .
How do you feel your art has been impacted during quarantine?
I think even prior to quarantine I was in a very reflective state. I had just experienced something traumatic in my life, and even decided to change my concentration from graphic design to painting officially. So, during that time I began to dig deep into my roots, as well as practice perfecting my rendering skills, and made portraits for about a month straight. I specifically drew famous Latino celebrities/musicians and created process videos for each one. I also did a lot of small painting studies. I had no interest going out to hang out with anyone, I just wanted to focus on my craft and improving my skills. However once quarantine hit, I think as a student it has made it harder to separate my school assignments from my personal projects.
What are you looking forward to this semester?
I’m looking forward to continue pushing myself to create a more bodies of work .
Now that the semester is coming to and end, how do you feel about your classes? Your studio work? Your home life? what would you do differently?
I would say I'm not the best online student. My artwork for my online classes were not as strong. I got distracted easily. I did like my hybrid class I had where half of the class met on certain days. My work for that class was the strongest. I definitely would use the studio space more even for classes that I don't have in person. Not a lot of people went in person anyways so most of the studio spaces were vacant.
What advice would you give yourself back then as a Community College student?
There were definitely a lot of things that I would do differently as a college student in my community college days I think I would tell my younger self don't be afraid to ask questions, be yourself and keep practicing your rendering skills.
What does the Cliff Gallery/Mountain View College Campus mean to you?
Mountain View really helped me build myself as an artist and honestly I have to thank my drawing Professor for giving me the opportunity to be a student assistant for the art department. That whole experience in itself helped me open up more and see different possibilities in careers in the arts.
Talk a little about your experience as a work study student with the Art De such as measurements in between each painting if that's needed. What did you learn? How was it valuable? What would you change?
I remember I was actually the first work-study student that they had in a long time approximately 10 years and at first they didn't really know what to do with me but overtime they started giving me tasks and assignments that were more art related and honestly I had a really good experience. Over time, they started asking me if I was interested in doing gallery experience and of course I couldn't say no to that and you know, I met different artists and I helped them set up their gallery space. It was interesting to see how each artist treated, I learned the importance of lighting as well as the over attention to detail the space.
How has your work evolved since being at Cliff Gallery?
I can't even begin to describe how far my work has evolved from Mountain View to now. I feel like in the beginning of my artistic journey, I was very closed off and my work was not a complete reflection of what I was trying to say or stand for. My skills at the time we're not the strongest either and didn't really help with what I was trying to do. l feel like now I'm more comfortable talking about personal experiences and sharing that, at least in the classroom, I haven't really done that on social media.
I think even prior to quarantine I was in a very reflective state. I had just experienced something traumatic in my life, and even decided to change my concentration from graphic design to painting officially. So, during that time I began to dig deep into my roots, as well as practice perfecting my rendering skills, and made portraits for about a month straight. I specifically drew famous Latino celebrities/musicians and created process videos for each one. I also did a lot of small painting studies. I had no interest going out to hang out with anyone, I just wanted to focus on my craft and improving my skills. However once quarantine hit, I think as a student it has made it harder to separate my school assignments from my personal projects.
What are you looking forward to this semester?
I’m looking forward to continue pushing myself to create a more bodies of work .
Now that the semester is coming to and end, how do you feel about your classes? Your studio work? Your home life? what would you do differently?
I would say I'm not the best online student. My artwork for my online classes were not as strong. I got distracted easily. I did like my hybrid class I had where half of the class met on certain days. My work for that class was the strongest. I definitely would use the studio space more even for classes that I don't have in person. Not a lot of people went in person anyways so most of the studio spaces were vacant.
What advice would you give yourself back then as a Community College student?
There were definitely a lot of things that I would do differently as a college student in my community college days I think I would tell my younger self don't be afraid to ask questions, be yourself and keep practicing your rendering skills.
What does the Cliff Gallery/Mountain View College Campus mean to you?
Mountain View really helped me build myself as an artist and honestly I have to thank my drawing Professor for giving me the opportunity to be a student assistant for the art department. That whole experience in itself helped me open up more and see different possibilities in careers in the arts.
Talk a little about your experience as a work study student with the Art De such as measurements in between each painting if that's needed. What did you learn? How was it valuable? What would you change?
I remember I was actually the first work-study student that they had in a long time approximately 10 years and at first they didn't really know what to do with me but overtime they started giving me tasks and assignments that were more art related and honestly I had a really good experience. Over time, they started asking me if I was interested in doing gallery experience and of course I couldn't say no to that and you know, I met different artists and I helped them set up their gallery space. It was interesting to see how each artist treated, I learned the importance of lighting as well as the over attention to detail the space.
How has your work evolved since being at Cliff Gallery?
I can't even begin to describe how far my work has evolved from Mountain View to now. I feel like in the beginning of my artistic journey, I was very closed off and my work was not a complete reflection of what I was trying to say or stand for. My skills at the time we're not the strongest either and didn't really help with what I was trying to do. l feel like now I'm more comfortable talking about personal experiences and sharing that, at least in the classroom, I haven't really done that on social media.
However I also feel like my rendering skills are a lot better by a long shot because in between semesters I really did take the time to sit back and look at the work that I did in the classroom and sometimes I would remake the work because I felt like I didn't do my best at the time. There were also events that took place in my life after the cliff gallery that really pushed me to be the artist that I am becoming now.
Self Portrait, 2020. 30 in x40 in. Oil on the Canvas.
Landscape Studies, 2020. 11in x 15in. Water color.
El Indocumentado, 2020. 36 in x48 in. Oil on canvas.
Unloved, 2020. 12 in x12 in. Mix media.
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