Join Akron Soul Train fellow Michelle Droll at the Akron Art Museum for an artist talk. This is an exciting opportunity to gain some insights into Michelle’s artistic practice! She will explain the unique role of ‘chance narrative’ in her fantastical landscapes.

Michelle Droll moved to Akron from upstate New York in 1995 with her husband as newlyweds. After working as an architect for some years, she decided to go to art school to help fulfill her more creative side. After graduating from the Cleveland Institute of Art with a BFA and Kent State University with an MFA, she was employed by Dominion Energy in 2006, where she is currently a Senior Business Analyst. Her work has been exhibited throughout Northeast Ohio, including at SPACES Gallery, MOCA Cleveland, and in 2011-12, a solo show at the Akron Art Museum. Michelle will be an Akron Soul Train fellow from October 1-30, 2017.

As a response to the environment, Droll’s work transforms recycled and unwanted materials into 3D landscape ‘paintings’. Some of the materials she works with include hardware cloth, chicken wire, tulle netting, packing and bubble wrap, which are then layered with acrylic paint. Her extravagant use of material and color make for fantastical, lush, and dreamlike forms that can be read like paintings.