MICHELE BULATOVIC​

     The artwork on these pages grows out of a conscious need to strike a balance between an intrinsic purpose for creating art—the sheer pleasure of self-expression using luscious paints and color play—and an inspired purpose—the desire to tap into the healing power of art, both for the artist and the audience.
     I am fascinated by the transformative and healing power of the arts, which transcends the limits of spoken language. After years of studying foreign languages, I am drawn to the visual arts as a language that speaks to the soul without words. When the mind and body are being consumed by illness, depleted by aging, trauma or even everyday stress, the soul is the force that can hold a person together.   

     Art can serve as a conduit to deeper knowledge; a path to overcoming physical pain, grief, loss, disease; a resource for strength and inspiration; a means for regaining levity; and even an end-of-life source of comfort. I'm always humbled by the mental breakthroughs and extraordinary transformations resulting from the act of creating.
     My inspiration to create comes from everything...my ethnic background, travels, food, bodies in need of healing, nature and its unrelenting beauty. While I begin with a concrete idea or form, I am driven inherently to render the subject abstract. I enjoy the ambiguous space, sometimes the tension, between the concrete and the abstract. In searching for the balance between calculated brushwork and impulsive decisions, I strive to freeze-frame a personal perspective of the concrete, as a way to suggest that there are many ways to interpret the world. I hope the outcome evokes meaningful energy and provokes the viewer’s imagination.