CV
Education
2016 MA, Visual Arts, California State University, Northridge, CA
2013 BA, Art Studio, California State University, Sacramento, CA
Solo Exhibitions
2016 26 Centimeters, Shed Gallery, California State University, Northridge, CA
Group Exhibitions
2018 Stillwell Exhibition, Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
CCACA (California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts) San Francisco State University Student Exhibition, Davis, CA
2017 CCACA (California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts) San Francisco State University Student Exhibition, Davis, CA
2016 MFA/MA Exhibition, Main Art Gallery, California State University, Northridge, CA
Menagerie, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
Annual Juried Art Show, Main Art Gallery, California State University, Northridge, CA
2015 MFA Studio MA Exhibition, Shed Gallery, California State University, Northridge, CA
Ceramics Show, Shed Gallery, California State University, Northridge, CA
2014 Showcase Ceramics Guild, West Gallery, California State University, Northridge, CA
In Tandem, Shed Gallery, California State University, Northridge, CA
CCACA (California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts) Sacramento City College Student Exhibition, Davis, CA
2013 Senior Show, Robert Else Gallery, California State University, Sacramento, CA
CCACA (California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts) California State University, Sacramento Student Exhibition,
Davis, CA
Festival of the Arts: Family Sunday Funday, California State University, Sacramento, CA
2012 Visions in Metal Show, Sacramento, California State University, Sacramento, CA
Professional Organizations and Offices
California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art, Davis, CA. Volunteer.
Ceramics Guild at the California State University, Northridge, CA. Member.
Ceramics Guild at the California State University, Sacramento, CA. President & Treasurer.
Ceramics Guild at the San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA. President, Vice President &Treasurer.
Printmaking Club at the California State University, Northridge, CA. Member.
Sculpture Club at the California State University, Northridge, CA. Member.
NCECA (National Council on Education of the Ceramic Arts), National Conference, Member.
Language
American Sign Language (2 semesters)
Relevant Experience
An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma, A fundraiser benefiting VPAC, Table Centerpieces – Ceramics,
Valley Performing Arts Center, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA
2013-Present Custom Jewelry Designer & Senior Sales Associate, A-RARE-ITY, Sacramento, CA.
2012-Present Artist, Owner, & CEO, Mishi Co Art, Sacramento, CA.
(If you’d like a PDF version of Michelle Costella’s CV, please email her)
BIO
Michelle Costella (Haas) is a Sacramento based artist. Mishi Co’s Art was establish in 2012 and has been growing ever since. Costella graduated from California State University, Sacramento and obtained a BA in Art Studio with a dual emphasis in ceramics and metalsmithing in 2013. Since then, she has been a custom jewelry designer at a small jewelry store in the Sacramento area. Costella completed her MA in Visual Arts from California State University, Northridge in 2016.
Costella spent time volunteering at Carecen, a non-profit organization supporting underrepresented youth in South Central, Los Angeles. She has been consistently involved in clubs and organizations during her years of academia. Volunteering for galleries, artist workshops, and community service has kept her tied to her surrounding communities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Costella was solely responsible for running and operating a forty-seven year old business. Since then, she has brought focus back to her own business, Mishi Co Art.
ARTIST STATEMENT
If I could hug every tree in existence, I would.
Nature allows for a simplistic appreciation of all living things. The survival mechanisms of flora and fauna in their natural environments inform the sculptures I create. Their adaptive anatomy allows for harmonious species to thrive and create communities of multiple species. Coexistence becoming imperative for growth. Aesthetic growth qualities of coral, sponges, bacteria, fungi, become habitats of physical abstraction in my work. Allowing for imperative meniscal special to illuminate their space.
These abstract forms allude to natural progressions and the development of communities of organisms through recurrence of individual forms becoming unified. Organic shapes accumulate and becomes a synthesized architectural structure, the resulting representational sculptures becoming more meaningful together than individually.