Michael

Harnish

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Michael Harnish

In the work of Michael Harnish, collage operates as both sketch and research, a way of reordering memory and image. Rooted in his Southern California upbringing, these compositions often serve as studies for his large-scale paintings. Rather than aiming for pure beauty, they embrace imperfection as an aesthetic strategy. Harnish’s gesture is neither nostalgic nor deconstructive; it leans toward poetic interruption, where nature is torn apart and bold pops of color dance across the paper.
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In the Words of the Artist
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My work and practice both stem from my experiences as an artist living in southern California. I grew up enjoying graffiti at a young age, fashion, skateboard culture, and then in my adulthood, more high culture with museum art. I like to think that all these experiences have shaped me and inspired me.

I first started dabbling in collage when I wasn't able to paint at my studio. My wife and I had our first child, and so I was around the house more. I started cutting up fashion magazines, and it eventually led me to collage. At first, it felt unsettling to scramble an image in a collage-like manner. Eventually, I tried to find a harmonious approach to image-making while using collage.

It's funny now because so much of the world is collaged, and I didn't see it through that lens until I started making this type of imagery. It ranges from multiple screens on a desktop open at once to cellphones and driving.

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The collages help serve as a sketchbook and a base to start a painting. I think the collages are defined and finished in some sense on their own. They are probably more resolved than a painting.  It’s hard to compare them to the painting sense; they are different things, and a painting is never fully finished. I feel like I could keep working on a painting until it leaves the studio. I guess I could say the same about a collage on paper.

When I am using the collages as references for paintings, I am constantly tweaking them to fulfill the needs of the painting. They may require a color pop or another added feature.

I do have a certain method that sometimes gets broken. It basically follows the idea of making an image in a portrait-like manner with a head and body. I also use ripped fashion. I enjoy embracing the quick manner that occurs in ripping images quickly and carelessly. It creates unexpected shapes and relationships.

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Imperfection is huge. I enjoy wonkiness, especially in an era of perfection and method. I like challenging a picture and changing my own algorithm. I guess I enjoy that point when a picture is on the verge of falling apart. It teeters on tension. I like it when I ask myself the question, “Does that work?”. Sometimes, it's a matter of seeing what I can get away with, and other times, it's a matter of overworking a thing. I think a lot of art that I enjoy tests this sort of visual game. I also enjoy making vulnerable art.

Yes, I wish to repeat the tactile-ness of the works on paper. It is very easy to create build-up on a surface on a smaller scale. A piece of cardboard can be a huge step from flat paper. When it comes to building up the surface quality on a large painting, I have to invent ways of adding texture. I like to use bits of old paint and stick them to the surface. This helps create different visual paths through the painting. I also use oil paint to build up the illusion of depth.

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About the Artist

Michael Harnish (b. 1982, Panorama City, CA) is a painter based in Fullerton, California. His work draws from Southern California’s layered visual culture—botanical illustrations, fashion magazines, signage, and family snapshots—all of which he assembles into paper collages before translating them into lush, improvisational paintings. With a background in both BFA and MFA programs at Laguna College of Art and Design, Harnish has developed a practice that explores the tension between organic forms and constructed environments, often evoking a dreamy sense of memory and place.

Describing his style as “California romanticism,” Harnish creates compositions that hover between nostalgia and surrealism. His recent solo exhibitions include Shangri-La at Lowell Ryan Projects in Los Angeles and Afterglow at Compound YV in Yucca Valley, with additional group shows in London and across the U.S. Through vibrant palettes and fluid spatial arrangements, his paintings reflect on beauty, decay, and resilience in the California landscape.

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