Michelle Paterok

b. 1994, Edmonton, Canada.
Based in Montreal, Canada.

My interest in painting’s capacity to represent subjective experiences is the foundation of my studio practice. My current work is grounded in the following questions: How is space experienced subjectively, and how are these experiences reconstructed in our memories? How might time’s passage be expressed in the static frame of a painting? Finally, what role might painting have to play in addressing the environmental urgencies of the present moment? With these in mind, I use the medium to mine the poetics of small gestures and encounters in daily life.

Contact: paterokmichelle@gmail.com

Education
2022: MFA Visual Art, Western University, London, Canada
2016: BFA Art and Design, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
2013: Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan (Japanese language course)

Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2027: TBD, SHRINE, New York, USA (forthcoming)
2026: Towards Silence, Duran Contemporain, Montreal, Canada
2025: Summer’s Edge, SHRINE, New York, USA
2024: Quiet Light, Duran Mashaal Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2023: To Neither Quite Belonging, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, Canada
2022: At Dusk, McIntosh Gallery, Western University, London, Canada
2021: Night on Earth, Satellite Project Space, London, Canada
2020: Darkness, Light, Wind then Silence
in collaboration with Tomo Endo, Kosho Temple, Himi, Japan
2018: Unauthorized, Vorres Museum, Paiania, Greece (curated by Caterina Pizanias)

Selected Group Exhibitions
2025: Chloe Chlumecky, Michelle Paterok & Caroline Ji, Dianna Witte Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2025: Summer Salon, Duran Contemporain, Montreal, Canada
2024: Où Nous (En) Sommes, Duran Contemporain, Montreal, Canada
2024: Chlorophylle et Mélanine, Place du Marché Atwater, Montreal, Canada
2024: Hope Bites, SHRINE, New York, USA
2024: Summer Salon, Duran Mashaal Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2023: Winter Salon, Dianna Witte Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2021: Distance Makes the Heart Grow Weak, ArtLAB Gallery, Western University, London, Canada
2020: Be Here, Be There, Forest City Gallery, London, Canada
2020: Nengajo-ten, Nanto Fukumitsu Art Museum, Nanto, Japan
2019: The Art Thing, HOUSEHOLD Gallery, Himi, Japan
2019: Copper Prints, Mikando Gallery, Tonami, Japan
2017: Schmoozy, Latitude 53, Edmonton, Canada
2016: Denouement, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Edmonton, Canada
2016: Fresh Prints, SNAP Gallery, Edmonton, Canada
2016: Annotations, Rutherford Atrium, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Awards and Scholarships
2026: Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, Montreal, Canada
2025: Visual Arts Creation Grant, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Montreal, Canada
2025: Travel Grant, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Montreal, Canada
2023: Community Arts Investment Grant, London Arts Council, London, Canada
2023: Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, Montreal, Canada
2023: Visual Arts Creation Grant, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto, Canada
2021: SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Master’s Scholarship, Western University
2020: Visual Arts and New Media Individual Project Grant, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Edmonton, Canada
2020: Chair’s Entrance Scholarship, Western University
2020: Graduate Research Scholarship, Western University
2018: Visual Arts and New Media Individual Project Grant, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Edmonton, Canada
2018: Travel Grant, Edmonton Arts Council, Edmonton, Canada
2016: Samuel James and Augusta Kreye Deans Award in Art & Design, University of Alberta
2016: Nomination for BMO 1st Art! Invitational Student Art Competition, University of Alberta
2015: Elizabeth Ann Burgess Award in Contemporary Art, University of Alberta
2015: Roger S. Smith Undergraduate Research Award, University of Alberta

Residencies
2025: Pouch Cove Foundation, Pouch Cove, Canada
2023: Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, USA
2018: Vorres Museum Residency, Paiania, Greece

Art Fairs
2026: Plural, Montreal, Canada (with Duran Contemporain)
2026: CAN Art Madrid, Madrid, Spain (with Duran Contemporain)
2025: Luxembourg Art Week, Luxembourg (with Duran Contemporain)
2025: Future Fair, New York, USA (with Duran Contemporain)
2025: Plural, Montreal, Canada (with Duran Contemporain)
2024: Plural, Montreal, Canada (with Duran Mashaal Gallery)
2023: UNTAPPED, Artist Project Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Bibliography
“A Studio Visit with Michelle Paterok," Art Forecast, May 8, 2025
“An Interview with Michelle Paterok," Formation Art, November 12, 2024
“Memory and Place: In Conversation with Michelle Paterok,” Adi Berardini, Femme Art Review, May 24, 2021
“Copper Etching and Oil Painting Collaboration at Koshoji,” Yukihiro Takahashi, Kitanihon Newspaper, March 21, 2020 (in Japanese)

Publications/Catalogues
2024: Yolk Literary Journal, Cover Art, Volume 4.1, November 2024
2024: ArtMaze Magazine, Issue 37, March 2024
2023: “Family Doctors’ Burnout is about More than Their Workload,” The Walrus, February 8, 2024
2023: Tomorrow’s Talent III, Booooooom!, July 2023
2022: ArtMaze Magazine, Issue 28, May 2022
2021: The Walrus, Special Winter Edition, December 22, 2021
2021: Distance Makes the Heart Grow Weak Exhibition Catalogue, ArtLAB Gallery, Western University, January 2020

Collections
Brain and Mind Institute, Western University
Cleveland Clinic
Google
Fidelity Investments

Thank You
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec