Michael E. Voss
I am a painter, printmaker and draftsman based in the Waukegan, IL. My works have been widely exhibited nationally and collected internationally.
My work is inspired by nature, urban spaces’ scale and reflectivity, inner journeys, absurdities, and working people. I am also influenced by the old masters, the innovation of contemporary artists, and the realms of mythology and psychology.
I channel subconscious imagery from within, to shed light not only upon often-obscured beauty and truth, but also to challenge accepted falsehoods, injustices, intolerance, and inequity.
While I was formally trained in the sight/size realism technique, I thrive on experimentation, including building my own tools to help me execute new ideas.
I am a painter, printmaker and draftsman based in the Waukegan, IL. My works have been widely exhibited nationally and collected internationally.
My work is inspired by nature, urban spaces’ scale and reflectivity, inner journeys, absurdities, and working people. I am also influenced by the old masters, the innovation of contemporary artists, and the realms of mythology and psychology.
I channel subconscious imagery from within, to shed light not only upon often-obscured beauty and truth, but also to challenge accepted falsehoods, injustices, intolerance, and inequity.
While I was formally trained in the sight/size realism technique, I thrive on experimentation, including building my own tools to help me execute new ideas.
$1,595.00
Oil painting over monotype on Hahnemühle Copperplate paper from plexiglass.
47x28.50"
Limited edition 1 of 1.
Experimental abstracted nature, meant to hide behind, obfuscate. Chicagoland garden.
Oil painting over monotype on Hahnemühle Copperplate paper from plexiglass, 28.5” x 47” - 2020
$1,570.00
Oil paint over oil monotype on copperplate paper from plexiglass.
47.50x28.50"
Multichromal abstraction of a 2005 watercolor piece from western Michigan artist Liz Thomas-Garasic.
Oil paint over oil monotype on Copperplate paper from plexiglass, artist-signed and chopped. 47.5” x 28.5” - 2020
$1,810.00
Oil monotype on Hahnemühle Copperplate paper from plexiglass.
47.50x28.50"
Limited edition 1 of 1.
Abstracted natural elements. Sand, sea, surf and sky, reminiscent of an uncrowded beachfront.
Oil monotype on Hahnemühle Copperplate paper from plexiglass. 47.5” x 28.5” - 2020
$9,750.00
Oil on canvas (pentaptych with individual frames).
43x72"
This artwork is configurable in portrait or landscape orientation.
Golden Fibonacci pentaptych: Children in ill-fitting uniforms enlist in exchange for college education.
Brown, baby-faced cadets march in lockstep cadence as defenders of the facade.
The photographer documents; the band plays on.
Firemen carry national and municipal flags before an all-white marquee.
Applying varnish to the finished piece brings forth the richness of the colors in the painting.
Part of the Urban Canyons Series
Five individual paintings framed and arranged as a pentaptych which can be either vertically or horizontally configured. Oil on canvas. Reclaimed redwood floating frames. 72" x 43" - 2019
$1,390.00
Oil on canvas with reclaimed cedar floating frame.
50x50"
Scene from NYC.
Fifteen years after your third chair at Belmont put you 70K in debt, he chucked an Abe into your case.
Part of the Urban Canyons Series.
Oil on canvas with reclaimed redwood floating frame. 50" x 50"- 2020
$11,000.00
Oil on canvas with floating redwood frame.
38x50"
Central Park Art vendor whose picture I captured in November 2019 during the NYC Marathon.
You clutch your phone and coffee. You like what you do. You get be outdoors and prefer the sunny side of life, but you glare when your picture is taken.
Part of the Urban Canyons Series.
Oil on canvas with reclaimed redwood floating frame. 38" x 50" - 2019
$7,800.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
A City of Chicago worker cleans an alley behind the glittering facade downtown.
Reflections and puddles capture a sense of movement and fluidity, while dramatic shadows give a sense of depth and contrast.
A realistic, yet mysterious aura, invites the viewer to wonder about the situation and the lives of the figures in the city that surrounds them.
Part of the Urban Canyons Series.
Oil on canvas, gallery wrap. Framing options available. 36" x 48" x 1.5" - 2023
$7,800.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
Iconic Chicago River perspective. Reflections capture a sense of movement and fluidity, while dramatic shadows give a sense of depth and contrast.
A realistic, yet mysterious, aura invites the viewer to wonder about the situation and the lives of the figures in the city that surrounds them.
Part of the Urban Canyons Series.
Oil on canvas, gallery wrap. Framing options available. 36" x 48" x 1.5" - 2023
$7,520.00
Oil on canvas with reclaimed redwood floating frame.
36x52"
A Chicagoland window washer dangles perilously before beauty. Water dries and no one knows of his toil.
What we see is clear glass, drips on leaves, on trees, hostas, and ground; each reminding of the other's impermanence. The polished granite reflects beauty, but we do not notice the glass. Glass and washer are both taken for granted.
Part of the Urban Canyons Series.
Oil on canvas with reclaimed redwood frame. Artist signed and chopped on back of canvas.
36" x 52" - 2020
$7,800.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
Seeing people toil in dangerous conditions makes me appreciate the working men and women who do unsung jobs that keep us all going.
I invite the viewer to wonder about situations and lives of the figures in the city surrounding them.
Part of the Urban Canyons Series.
Oil on canvas, gallery wrap. Framing options available. 36" x 48" x 1.5" - 2023
$7,800.00
Oil on canvas.
36x48"
Seeing people toil in dangerous conditions makes me appreciate the working men and women who do unsung jobs that keep us all going.
I invite the viewer to wonder about situations and lives of the figures in the city surrounding them.
Oil on canvas, gallery wrap, framing options available. 36" x 48" x 1.5" - 2023
$1,120.00
Oil on canvas with wood hand scrolls.
16x43"
Still water juxtaposed with burning shoreline. Save yourself. Jump. Embrace a cooling kiss.
Sister painting to Really. and Lakeside Inferno Dance, shown as a group in the last image.
Oil on canvas with wooden scrolls. 16" x 43" - 2021