Michelle Sweeney-Fillmore

Michelle Sweeney-Fillmore is a photorealistic painter based in the Bay Area. She grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, and graduated with a BA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2015.
Fillmore’s paintings are autobiographical metaphors. Having grown up with a family member that wrestled with mental illness, her work opens up a discussion about mental health and points out its inherent stigmas and challenges. She uses a tightly controlled photorealistic style at odds with the turbulent subject matter and its rich emotion. Fillmore also exhibits a mastery with oils by choosing a variety of textures to render in her work. Each painting is a celebration of a person’s ability to liberate themselves from their own prison, as well as the ability to change and transform.
Michelle S. Fillmore exhibits nationally, currently being represented by the SHOH Gallery in Berkeley, California, Artspace Warehouse in Los Angeles, California, and Woodman/Shimko Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts.