ABOUT MICHELLE LARSEN
Where Painting Becomes Sculpture
Michelle Larsen is a contemporary dimensional artist and the originator of a distinctive paper-sculpted painting technique that transforms rigid panels into dimensional relief artwork that combines the expressive power of painting with the physical presence of sculpture.
Working entirely by hand, Larsen shapes and builds paper directly onto the surface, creating deeply dimensional forms before completing each work in oil paint. Her relief can extend up to ten inches from the surface, allowing light, shadow and perspective to become part of the artwork itself.
The result exists somewhere between painting and sculpture—art that doesn't simply hang on a wall, but physically enters the space around it.
AN ART FORM DEVELOPED BY HAND
Larsen developed her technique through years of experimentation rather than following an established method.
Tissue paper is layered, shaped and sculpted directly onto canvas using gel medium. As the layers build and cure, the paper becomes a hard, rigid and remarkably sturdy sculptural surface.
Oil paint is then applied across the relief, bringing color, movement and depth to every ridge, fold and contour.
From the smallest facial detail to sweeping wildlife forms, each element is individually shaped by the artist's hands.
No molds. No digital sculpting. Each original begins with paper, a rigid surface and the artist's hand.
THE PROCESS
SCULPT
Paper is shaped, layered and built directly onto the surface to create the underlying dimensional structure.
HARDEN
The sculpted surface is bonded and cured, transforming lightweight paper into a rigid relief.
PAINT
Oil paint is applied across the completed sculpture, using color, highlights and shadow to intensify its physical depth.
EXPERIENCE
As the viewer moves around the finished work, changing light and perspective reveal details that cannot be experienced in a conventional flat painting.
FROM BILLBOARDS TO
DIMENSIONAL ART
Michelle Larsen studied at the Rocky Mountain School of Art and Design in Denver, Colorado.
Her early career took an unusual path.
Before becoming a fine artist, Larsen worked as a billboard artist and sign painter, creating hand-painted lettering and imagery at a scale designed to be seen from a distance. She specialized in hand-lettered script using a traditional quill brush—a discipline requiring precision, control and confidence of mark.
As hand-painted commercial signs were increasingly replaced by vinyl and digital production, Larsen's creative direction changed.
That transition ultimately led to years of experimentation with paper as a sculptural medium and the development of the technique that would define her work.
What began as an exploration of texture evolved into paintings that could physically project from the canvas.
Conceptual Installation
INSPIRED BY LIFE
Larsen's subjects range from wildlife and nature to expressive human portraits and abstract forms.
Across those subjects runs a common thread: emotion, movement and resilience.
A bear's fur, the feathers of an eagle, the weathered face of a cowboy or the petals of a sunflower
become opportunities to explore not only what something looks like, but what it feels like.
Texture is not added simply for effect. It becomes part of the storytelling.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I have always believed art should make you feel something.
My work begins with paper—an ordinary, fragile material that I transform into something strong, dimensional and permanent.
I sculpt directly onto a rigid panel, building forms outward until the painting begins to occupy physical space. Once the structure is complete, I work in oil, allowing color to move across the peaks, valleys, folds and shadows of the sculpted surface.
I am fascinated by what happens when the boundaries between painting and sculpture disappear.
When someone approaches one of my paintings, I want there to be a moment of discovery. From a distance, they see an image. As they come closer, they begin to understand its construction, depth and texture. And when they move around it, the artwork changes again as light and shadow move across the surface.
For me, that experience is what dimensional art is about.
The work doesn't stop at the surface. It reaches into the viewer's space.
— Michelle Larsen
RECOGNITION
Larsen's work has been exhibited in New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Dallas and France and has received national and international recognition for its originality and dimensional approach.
Her distinctions include multiple selections among ArtTour International's Top 60 Masters of Contemporary Art, along with awards, magazine features and international media coverage.
Conceptual Installation
A NEW SCALE FOR DIMENSIONAL ART
Today, Michelle Larsen Studios is exploring another evolution of the work.
The physical relief of Larsen's originals creates the potential for the artwork to be digitally captured and translated through contemporary 3D fabrication into scalable dimensional installations.
An artwork that begins by hand on a surface can potentially become the foundation for a dramatically larger installation—bringing the character of the original sculpture into museums, architecture, hospitality and immersive environments.
The technology expands the scale.
The art still begins by hand.
MUSEUM & WILDLIFE INSTALLATIONS
Larsen's dimensional wildlife and nature works also offer possibilities for museums, zoos, nature centers, conservation spaces and educational environments.
Original works, commissioned pieces and scalable dimensional applications can be developed to complement spaces where art, nature and storytelling come together.
Conceptual Installation
MICHELLE LARSEN STUDIOS
Bringing Art Beyond the Surface
Original dimensional art for collectors, museums and extraordinary spaces.