• Michele Basta was born and raised in and around Baltimore City, Maryland, USA. She received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2003 and her MFA from Tulane University in 2010.

• Michele has always had an interest in the strange beauty that can be found in the grotesque. Inspired by the relationship between our perceptions of the natural world and that of mythologies and story telling, she brings forth a new cavalcade of strange creatures from the dark corners of the psyche. It is this macabre interaction between man-made status symbols and suffering specimens of nature that make up her intricate body of work.

• Today, she lives and makes her art in New Orleans, LA.

Education:

• MFA, Tulane University, Sculpture, 2010.
• BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art, Fibers, 2003.

Exhibitions:

2011
• "Swagger for a Lost Magnificence", CAC, New Orleans, LA, Juried.
• "and the Earth begot", Coup d'oeil Art Consortium, New Orleans, LA,     Invitational.

2010
• "In Proportion to Obsession", Coup d'oeil Art Consortium, New Orleans,     LA, Invitational.
• "Swarm", New Orleans, LA, Invitational.
• "Splinters...", Thesis Exhibition, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA,     Invitational.

2009
"Arachne", film screening, Fluid Film Festival, New York, NY, Invitational.

2008
Tulane University, Woldenberg Art Center, LA, Invitational.

2006
• "An Evening Affair", performance, Curioso So Obscuro, NM, Invitational.
• "Performance", Blue Dragon, NM, Invitational.
•  The Curio Gallery, NM, Invitational.
•  Blue Dragon, NM, Invitational.
•  Zeum Gallery, CA, Commission.
•  Downtown Contemporary Art Center, NM, Invitational.

2005
The Alley on 18th Street, Kansas City, MO, Invitational.

2004
"The River of Listener's", film screening, Flicker Film Festival, NC, Juried.

2003
• Film Screening/Exhibition, Maryland Institute, MD, Invitational.
•  Maryland Institute College of Art, MD, Juried.

2002
• Maryland Institute College of Art, MD, Invitational.
• The Whole Gallery, MD, Invitational.

2001
"For Whom and for the Number", 1614 Lounge, MD, Invitational.

1999
Performance, The 14-Karat Cabaret in The MD Art Place, MD, Invitational.

1998
• Performance/Exhibition, The Synapse Gallery, MD, Invitational.
• Exhibition/Interview, Channel 2 Gallery, Wash., DC, Invitational.

Bibliography:

• Marcella Ortega Article/Interview, New Mexico Daily Lobo, November    16, 2006, p.8.
• Gadi Dechter Review/Interview, "Raw Materials, The Whole Gallery Hosts    Work That's as Refined as it is Rough", Baltimore City Paper, December 18,    2002.
• Susan Singer-Bart Article/Interview, 1995.

Media:

• Inside Art New Orleans, September, 2011.
   http://www.insidenola.org/2011/09/michele-basta-at-coup-doeil_25.html • Gambit Best of New Orleans.com, September 27, 2011.
   http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/michele-basta/Content?oid=1885479