Michael Steinbrick

Michael Steinbrick was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He obtained his BFA with a concentration in painting from Montclair State University. He also spent time studying abroad at the Constantijn Huygens Academie in the Netherlands. After school, he honed his painting skills working as a scenic painter and muralist in New York, New Jersey, and Chicago.

Michael’s creative process happens on different levels of consciousness. Over time, he learned to rely on a higher level of mind, trusting his intuition to guide him when photographing and selecting the images he recreates. This part of the process is very much feeling-based and extrasensory, and partly unconscious.

He also uses his conscious brain to deal with the problem-solving involved in the complexities of photorealism. Michael’s logical brain breaks down the images to the most abstract elements and recreates them, using various painting techniques.

He has learned that when logic is used for technical application, it is possible to create a space where he is able to channel an energy from higher consciousness. Often the viewer will experience that energy in his work’s presence. Because he deconstructs his images to pure abstraction, Michael no longer views them as photorealism, but rather abstract photorealism. Ultimately Michael’s paintings reflect a spiritual experience, a moment where a higher level of consciousness takes over the logical translation of what the eye is seeing.