Michelle Jackson (she/her) is a neurodivergent, queer, and unapologetically fat artist from California’s Central Valley who has called Portland home for the past eight years. In 2022, following her father's death, she returned to school, determined to pursue her dream of becoming an artist and educator. After years spent drifting between junior colleges and customer service jobs that left her unfulfilled, she realized life is too short not to follow her passion.
Working across oil painting, watercolor, photography, and textiles, Jackson is committed to showing that marginalized bodies are worthy of celebration and representation. Her work embraces vibrant color while engaging themes of fat liberation, LGBTQIA+ identity, mental health, and neurodivergence with tenderness and humor. Through joyful resistance to objectification, her art affirms the beauty of all bodies and creates space for visibility, affirmation, and belonging. Ultimately, her work reflects how she sees the world—in rainbows.
Artist Statement
My work centers queer fat bodies, resisting objectification, stereotypes, and discrimination. I portray fat bodies as they are lived—intimate, tender, and cared for. These works reflect my time at Portland State, tracing my search for an artistic voice, the influences that shaped it, and my hope to uplift other fat people through representation.
My needle-felted sculptures invite touch, creating a physical connection between viewer and artwork. Jessica and Cinnamon capture a playful moment between partners, while Soft is a love letter to my belly—a part of my body I have struggled to treat with kindness. Needle felting binds wool roving together by repeatedly stabbing it with barbed needles, slowly forming soft fibers into shape.
This Must Be the Place marks a turning point in my relationship to both queerness and art, using colorful lighting to create rainbow-like portraits. In Reaction, I respond to Jenny Saville’s Strategy, transforming a solemn triptych into a self-portrait of joy and self-confidence. Death by Fat, an appropriation of Cindy Sherman’s Untitled #153, confronts media stereotypes that frame fat people as gluttonous. Together, these works move toward fat liberation—affirming that large bodies are good bodies.