Michelle Cortez Gonzales is a Fort Worth based interdisciplinary artist who creates sewn-textile paintings, and installations. She earned her BFA in painting from the University of Texas at Arlington, and her MA and MFA in painting from the University of Dallas. Her work has been featured in Maake Magazine and exhibited in various galleries throughout Texas including Anya Tish Gallery (Houston, TX), Talley Dunn Gallery, and Presa House Gallery (San Antonio, TX). Cortez Gonzales was showcased in Visit Fort Worth’s 2021 series of “Women Worth Meeting”, and awarded residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, VT (2024), Cuttyhunk Artist Residency, MA (2021), and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art as a 2021 Community Artist. She was a recipient of the 2023 National Endowment for the Arts: Challenge America Grant from the Dallas District Colleges. In addition to her studio practice, Cortez Gonzales works as a public art project manager with Arts Fort Worth.

Statement

I am an interdisciplinary artist working in painting, found materials, video, and installation. My work explores the space between two and three dimensions, fine art and craft, private and public, loss and recovery. In this crucial midpoint, I create within the tension of opposing ideas, reflecting a liminal state of not fully belonging to one thing or another. Using symbolic imagery and personal narratives, I address themes of memory, belonging, and the lasting consequences of cultural loss due to assimilation.