The following are various collaborations I’ve done with artists in different mediums. This page will be updated as more collaborations are made. Keep checking here and the blog for news and updates about upcoming collaborations:
Art:
Artist Paul Gori and Michelle met in the spring of 2015. With a mutual appreciation and respect of each other’s art forms, it was a natural fit.
The first collaboration between the two was also the hardest and most deeply emotional piece, being based on a poem Michelle wrote about her father who died in 2003. Her memories upon seeing him in his casket and the resulting emotional toll inspired the poem on a night when she was tortured by the memory and couldn’t sleep. With warmth, kindness and respect, Paul Gori took on the task to illustrate this vision. It is one of the most touching things Michelle has experienced in all her time as a poet and was also the first time she had ever seen her poetry brought to life through art.
The second collaboration was done in reverse, with Paul Gori’s art and inspiration for mood, he gave Michelle the art to write a poem around. It was challenging and fun and they promise to do this again in the near future. From Gori on the inspiration for the art:
“A few days ago I drew this. Its nothing flashy, or grand…but I was thinking about how A lot of people are completely out of touch with how people perceive them visually. So many folks, mainly the younger generation have this idea that they are not what would be considered attractive by the public eye. That no one will love them, or want to talk to them. And to be honest it’s a mystery to me how our minds work this way…because the world is filled with beauty, no matter your skin color, waist size, ethnicity, or even what you wear. We are all loved no matter what it by whom…it’s a simple fact that we are. Sometimes you just turn around and see it. I just wanted to draw this for some reason. 8 hope you all get it, because it’s an issue with our society in my opinion. And this crazy gal named Michelle Joy Gallagher got my point. I asked her to write one of her delicious poems to accompany my doodle. Here it is for you to read… I truly appreciate it Michelle. On to the next.”
You can purchase art prints by Paul Gori here: Paul Gori’s Art at Storenvy
You can find Paul Gori on several social media sites:
He is currently working on the comic Oathbound with author Kevin Cuffe
Music:
Brain Sushi is a punk band out of Millau, France. In late 2014, The track “Michelle” was written.
Here’s what the author of the track had to say about it:
“Just to tell you that this song was inspired to me by Michelle Joy Gallagher’s poetry.
The song’s chorus is a sentence she once told me : “My body’s full of of death but my mind’s full of life”
The first part is one of her poems :
‘The things you never saw
The raw and bleeding everything
My voice small in the vast emptiness of death.
My skeleton weeping
The broken violin strings in my heart playing
Promises you’d never keep
The silent war of salty sweat and hospital sheets
And a god who forgot about me.’
© Michelle Joy Gallagher
The last part is a fiction of me and her dancing at the ball, taking off and crashing into the sun.”
Listen to more Brain Sushi on their Soundcloud site
Sculpture/Mixed Media:
Allen Davidson is the heart of Titantrap Customs and was generous enough to bring his unique perspective to Michelle’s words. From Allen on the sculpture project:
“I was honored to do a sculpture project for Michelle Joy Gallagher, inspired by several of her poems. As you all know it was way outside my normal work area and it was a rewarding experience for me. I’d like to thank Miss Gallagher for letting me be associated with her work and for inspiring the piece with her amazing poetry. Perhaps this won’t be the last time i go down this road.”
Michelle Joy Gallagher Soffe 