Britt Michaelian: The Healing Artist
Britt Michaelian
An artist whose canvases are built to carry more than color. Ground minerals, healing frequencies, and a life in which making and mending were never separate things.
Two Trainings, One Practice
Britt earned her BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, then refused to stop there. She pursued a dual master's path, in art therapy and in marriage and family therapy, and trained as a Reiki master in both Usui and Karuna lineages. Most artists treat the therapeutic and the aesthetic as different careers. Britt built one practice out of both, and it shows in everything she makes.
From Art School to Hospital Rooms
Her training led somewhere most fine artists never go: the wards. Nervous at first about working with patients facing death, she found that art could be a refuge. On heart transplant, pediatric, and oncology floors she arrived with no clipboard and no diagnosis, only a cart of markers, pens, and Model Magic, and a willingness to listen. The job was simple and radical at once. Help people heal their hearts by making something.
The Turn Came Through Grief
The real revelation arrived through loss. When Britt's mother died and her sister was fighting cancer, she put her training to work at home, laying hands on her sister's back where the tumors pressed against her ribs. In the quiet hours when her sister slept, she returned to a canvas she had abandoned for years. What came out was different. The paintings were no longer only intuitive color. They had become, she felt, conduits, able to soften pain and offer some solace.
Healing House
Out of that conviction came Healing House, the art and wellness experiences she now hosts. Each one gathers a sound bath, a guided meditation, group Reiki, a talk, and an exhibition of what she calls frequency art, every piece carrying the same intentions she sets into the sound and the meditation. She is candid that there are skeptics, and equally candid that she has no interest in arguing with them. She would rather extend an invitation than win a debate.
I do not feel the need to convince anyone of anything. I only seek to invite people on a journey with me.Britt Michaelian
In Conversation
Your work incorporates powdered minerals, soil from energy vortexes, healing frequencies, sacred geometry, and quantum healing. Aside from your aim to create energy healing with these elements, how do they influence the painting itself?
It is so cool how the paint mixes with the minerals. Back in the day, the great masters used mineral-based paint, which is why their works were so powerful. They had healing frequencies. But, back to your question. I mix selenite and healing vortex soil with the acrylic paint and it makes the paint gritty, so when I swipe it onto the canvas it makes a scratching noise that instantly makes me feel connected to the earth. As I layer colors, I use a smudging spray on the paint to keep it wet and pure. With each layer, I sprinkle more mineral powders like blue apatite, aventurine, rose quartz, amethyst, and tholeiite on the wet paint, and the weight of the powders creates what I think look like dried river beds on the canvas. I like to add more minerals in certain areas so viewers can connect with the frequencies of those stones.
How do you know when a painting is complete?
That is a question my husband asks me all the time. The only answer I can give is that the painting is final when it tells me that it is.
In your view, how can art make a positive impact on our lives?
As a society, we are still in the beginning stages of embracing energy healing as an important responsibility we have as humans. But major hospitals like MD Anderson and Mayo Clinic are now incorporating Reiki, healing touch, and other energy healing modalities into their offerings. This is a growing movement, and one I hope more artists join. Can you imagine how amazing the world would be if the art created and exhibited transmitted healing frequencies? I would love to teach a class at art schools for students who want to learn to make their own healing art. Imagine standing in a healing art gallery, an outdoor public exhibit, or a museum filled with healing art. Our hearts would be so full, and we would carry that out into the world and spread it. Like magic.
What is next for you?
Healing House. I am so excited to keep hosting this event and providing a place for people to feel loved and honored. In the art world, a lot of curators talk about social responsibility, and how artists are looked to during times of societal upheaval to make statements or ask questions. My art is a solution to societal upheaval. It gives collectors a place to heal themselves and the world. Healing House is where collectors can find the pieces that invite them inward to heal. It is also a space of complete wellness and high vibrations.
The painting is final when it tells me that it is.Britt Michaelian
brittmichaelian.art · @brittmichaelian
About Antakly Projects
Antakly Projects has been in conversation with artists and creatives from around the world since 2003.
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