Visual Artist, Comic Creator

Michelle Garfinkel

RICHMOND, USA

Michelle Garfinkel is an explorer of the overlooked.

She's an artist based in Richmond, Virginia, who uses comics and paintings to explore stories and ideas within Jewish experience freshly. Regardless of medium, she is interested in uncovering the richness hidden in familiar traditions and everyday details.

Her comics adapt midrashim, Yiddish folktales, jokes, stories from Shabbat dinner, and other lesser-known narratives to bring a contemporary vision to Jewish stories. Working entirely by hand, she embraces analog processes to preserve the warmth, texture, and imperfections of the original artwork.

Her paintings begin with a foundational text or idea and evolve through successive layers of mixed media, allowing meaning to compound and emerge through both the source material and the art-making process.

She holds bachelor's degrees in visual art and anthropology and has exhibited and collaborated on projects across the United States. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and two exceptionally fluffy pets.

What are you making right now?

Recently I’ve been prepping for a comic for the second issue of the Jewish comics anthology Chutzpah! It’s an adaptation of a letter from a Jewish mother to her son that was written before the Crusades. However, it sounds like something written yesterday. It’s a hilarious gem from the Geniza archive in Cairo. I’m excited to blow the proverbial dust off it and share it with everyone.

What medium do you work in and what drew you to it?

I work in both comics and painting because each medium reveals something different. Comics allow me to tell stories and make time visible. They turn stories into something alive rather than a historical artifact. Painting gives me room to linger on a single moment or idea. I can convey a feeling or a vibe through each layer, and together they communicate something that leaves room for the viewer’s own experiences and perceptions. Together, these mediums help me explore the richness of Jewish experience from different angles.

If you could spend an hour with anyone you admire, living or dead, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Hilma Af Klint. She made spiritual abstract art before it was cool. I would want to talk to her about how she managed to continue creating when no one valued her or her work much. She also stopped creating for a time so she could care for her elderly mother. What did it feel like to stop creating? What did it feel like to start again? Was she or her work different after the break? In general, how did the responsibilities of life interfere with her ability to practice, and how did she address those challenges?

What do you need in your workspace to spark creativity?

My studio must be tidy! Physical messes and administrative loose ends are both surprisingly distracting, and I do my best work when everything is in its place. Then I can give my full attention to the piece in front of me. I also prefer white walls and neutral surroundings. Too much color in my environment influences how I perceive the colors I'm working with. A calm, neutral workspace lets the artwork itself become the visual focus. Also, my large, fluffy cat likes to hang out with me in the studio. I do my best work when he's asleep in the corner rather than trying to chew on my paintbrushes.

What would you like people to understand about your work?

My work is all about sharing those overlooked, delightful details in the Jewish experience and life in general. There is so much to love about the Jewish tradition, but sometimes it takes someone else pointing it out to see it. Some people find it a bit opaque or stuffy, but to me it’s profoundly beautiful, rich, and meaningful. I think of my work as a mirror that says, “you think you know this tribe… look again.” Because I’m a Jew-by-Choice, I get the privilege of seeing the Jewish world with an immigrant’s eyes.

Has your identity, culture, heritage, or community influenced your creative practice?

Because I’m a Jew-by-Choice, I am part of multiple communities and the word “ancestor” means many things to me. The Jewish elements of my identity are, of course, a massive part of what I make and why I make it. I find the Jewish tradition endlessly inspiring and my Jewish community an incredible creative foundation. However, other parts of my experience (born and raised Mormon, spiritual vagabond, trained in barrel racing for rodeos, etc) rarely, if ever, show up in my studio. Art’s funny that way.

What does success look like to you as a creative?

To share my work with as many people as possible! Ultimately, my art is all about sharing and connecting with others. When I’m making something, I feel like I'm putting a message in a bottle and sending it out there for someone to find. It breaks my heart when pieces stay stuck in a closet or drawer somewhere, unseen and forgotten. Because my art specifically is about highlighting that which is hidden, it’s really important to me that others see it. Otherwise, the piece is only halfway done. The piece isn’t complete until others relate to it in some way.