michael john nolan

Michael John Nolan is an artist and teacher based in Tucson, Arizona. He earned both his BFA and MFA from the University of Arizona. Currently, he is the head of Design at Pima Community College in Tucson. Michael has shown in numerous exhibitions nationwide, including many state museum exhibitions. His work has been featured in multiple publications and annuals, notably American Illustration, 3 x 3, The Artist’s Magazine, Blue Canvas Magazine, Creative Quarterly, and the Society of Illustrators. Michael has been art director, cover artist, and illustrator on several literary publications for Starsys Publishing Company.

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Michael’s narratives lie somewhere between the real and the surreal. The psychological moments he creates evoke an undeniable and definite mood meant to amplify the intangibles and make them tangible. He uses exaggeration and the concept of archetype to give the conflicts a resonating presence. Michael’s works are centered on the philosophical notions of choice and the absence of decision, and how they affect the self and define and create the surrounding environments. “Life is a construct of both choice and the absence of decision. Unfocused, both can and most likely will create stasis and with it, in time, the entropy of the construct. However, one can attempt to impose a new structure and ultimately a redefinition of the construct by the same action that produced the stasis – choice.”