Michelle Paterok finds unexpected inspiration in the small moments of life that she encounters around her home in Montreal. She paints these humble sights and experiences with urgency and care, employing a soft and airy touch to create images that sing with nostalgia and are imbued with the aura of memories we may not be a part of, but which feel instantly familiar and transportive. Paterok is one of those rare individuals who sees and feels the magic in everything, and she also has the uncanny ability to translate her revery into open-ended, universal scenes for us all to be astonished by.

Inherently part of the digital age, Paterok’s images and painterly language find opportunities to glitch and subtly subvert our expectations. Her thoughtful compositions phase in and out of recognition, allowing trees, walls, and other tangible forms to dissipate and shift into more dream-like realms, where stars and the abstract energy of the universe come into focus. Perhaps an acknowledgement that everything, no matter how small, is part of the grand scheme of life as we know it, this cinematic effect is achieved through light sanding and thin applications of paint. Like a time machine, Paterok’s paintings temporarily transports us into her life and mindset, and by doing so, highlight how important it is to take stock and care of everything around us.

In Summer’s edge, Paterok invites us to step back in time and enjoy the carefree feelings and full-body hug of the last few days of summer. Filled with hope and play, this rarified time is always tempered against the knowledge life, and all of its responsibilities, are waiting for us around the bend. A sentimental warm glow infuses Paterok’s paintings depicting roadside farm stands full of lush fruit and vegetables, spiders’ webs crying tears of morning dew, and a moonrise quickly ascending a twilight-blue sky. The scenes transform into something extraordinary in her hands, and speak of the cycles of life and time, as they quietly whisper, "Summer will be back soon."