Meet Michael Voss | Painter Printmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Voss and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, what do you attribute your success to?
Open a vein. People love to watch a performer spill their guts out on stage, or in their artwork. It requires a great deal of courage to allow yourself to be that vulnerable and accept people’s reactions. ManVshadow (my brand) is all about recognition of my own subconscious personae, giving them a voice and a chance to manifest their various agendas. I try to bring the scariest parts of me into the open. In doing so, I avoid my own destructive tendencies and turn that energy into art.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My Art is often about being pigeon holed into what one should do, what you are told to do, what my subconscious tells me to do. I believe that the subconscious plays a powerful role in the creative process. I try to leverage power of variety using a wide range of mediums and approaches to challenge myself and push boundaries of my artistic practice. Inhabiting those boundary spaces allows me to experiment. My work embraces variety and change, with occasional periods of intense focus.

I am most proud of my realism pieces. They generally take me forever to complete, which allows for more of me to seep into them, and hence they carry the most emotional investment with me.

I was risk averse and in a toxic relationship for most of my adult life. I wasn’t happy until I started taking chances, embracing change with a “Fail Forward” mentality. This has allowed me to learn and grow from my mistakes. Creating art about truth is risky. Putting yourself out there risks rejection, but the rewards are immeasurably positive.

I felt dissatisfied in my old day job. life, in a monotonous drone was passing me by, trapped within a beige cubicle, day after day. The breaking point came was when I started losing friends, as so happens at my age (61). This realization, that life is finite, crystallized my need to make art full time to bring meaning and purpose to my existence. I began entering calls for entry into Art Shows, and I sold a large piece of art, “the Sweep”-2019 at my first group show at Shockboxx Gallery in Hermosa Beach. This initial success boosted my confidence, I began to believe that dreams could come true, and so decided to pursue Art as a Business. I retired from my old job and haven’t looked back.

Creative problem solving has always served me well. Because I DIY almost everything, I am horrific at time estimation. One task begets three others, and each of those tasks follow suit, begets, begets and so on. I make a lot of mistakes with copious rework but end up with unintended creative results. I do a ton of “background processing”, thinking about the piece I am working upon, ruminating about the process, then I execute. I have two rules, I: Once a piece goes on the easel, it doesn’t come down until it is done, And II: Once the piece is done, it never goes back upon the easel. In other words, finish what you start, and don’t look back! The side benefit is I have many easels. Oh, and put your tools away (I’m still working on this one!)

I treat my creative work as essential sustenance, like food and water. I sometimes get up at 4am to paint, because for me, art is experimentation, invention, play and work, all in one. You must eat, you must care for others, but it’s all one thing.

Jungian psychoanalysis gave me the tools to survive myself and my internal demons. My business and brand take inspiration from my first completed work of art titled “Man Versus Shadow”. Forty years ago, as a nineteen-year-old freshman in college, I was an art major. My desire to raise a family caused me to switch to Information technology. This piece and its concretization of my long-brewed internal struggle gave me the impetus to step away from the “safe path” and do this before I leave this earth.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Lets make it a South bay & Artist Studio crawl weekend! For sustenance, the first stop (about Noon) is Granny’s Grocery & Deli, “the surfers market” in Hermosa Beach for a signature sandwich and cup of joe. Then swing around the corner to Shockboxx Gallery, Mike “Collzy” Collins is always there 11 to 1, but you better bring a sandwich for him too. Next, we have a 2PM touch-up session scheduled at Lovesick Tattoo with Morgan, be sure to wave at the pooches on the way in. Next up: a relaxing snooze on Manhattan Beach because you need to store up energy to survive Gallery 208 and the high energy owners Chip Herwegh, and surfer walk of fame member & all around BadA$$ Dennis Jarvis. Later, catch a private (but fully packed) rock show, get a hold of Zeal Levin at Hermosa Music Company, He will hook you up. Finish up the day with quick night cap at the Hermosa Saloon on highway 1.

Got to get to bed early because the Day2: Artist Studio Crawl begins up in the valley with the hardest working man in Art: Preston Smith. Then down to Skidrow to check out Artist Kymm Swank (see if you can get a saki lesson from her). Next: Check in on instagram with Theodosia Marchant and Randi Matushevitz to see if any pop-up shows are happening. If not, swing in LA Art Association/Gallery 825. You should be all “art’ed” out by now… whew!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Program Artists of Shockboxx Gallery in Hermosa Beach. Prior to these folks, I had never come close to the support this group gives to one and another. They show up, each and every time. Mike Collins, Preston Smith, Aimee Mandala, Kymm Swank, Theodosia Marchant, Muka, Scott Meskill, Christina Smith, Christina Elizabeth Smith, Randi Matushevitz & Kat Alyst

Website: https://www.manvshadow.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/manvshadow/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-v-300323

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.voss.125323

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0GnQOe035nzw-5lcXI7qgQ/

Other: LA Gallery: https://www.shockboxxproject.com/mike-voss Artsy: https://www.artsy.net/artist/michael-voss Singulart: https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/michael-voss-26463 Saatchi: https://www.saatchiart.com/manVshadowMichaelEVossFineArt

Image Credits
Julie Voss Michael Voss