Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

Michael Southern

Michael Southern (1968-) is a painter and printmaker.  He received his Bachelor’s degree in fine art and natural history from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1990 and his Master of Fine Arts degree in printmaking from the University of Georgia in 1995.  His oil paintings are imaginary landscapes or large narrative tableaux of female figures in the landscape.  His prints often focus on meticulous textures and forms of landscape and its fauna. Southern describes his body of work as ” an ongoing investigation into finding our place within the natural world.”  A long-time resident of Portland, where he has taught at PNCA and PCC, he lived briefly in New Zealand from 2009-2012 and plans a return in 2020.