Greetings
I am Mia Bolinger. I am a current NCMC student and a NCMC graduate with an associates in general studies and a fine craft certificate. I have spent my whole life surrounded by art. My parents are both artists who went to Northern Michigan University. My grandmothers are both fiber and fabric creators and my grandfather is a wood carver. I’ve taken arts classes my whole school career. From general arts to choir, band, and theatre. I participated in the theatre apprentice program in middle school where I helped the elementary schools put on plays by working with the actors and making costumes and set pieces. In high school I acted in many plays and musicals along with being back stage crew, set design/ creation, and costumes. Even now that I have graduated from high school I still help with the back of house part of their plays along with continuing to be a robotics media mentor, where I help the kids use Adobe Illustrator to create a custom team t-shirt design for each season of robotics along with our display board for our team.
In my art I use flowers, color and abstract line work. My pieces are a collage of either media, medium, color or all three. I want my work to flow while also having a unique shape and composition. I am inspired by flowers, water, art that is around me and the shape and process of the piece I am making. I often have none or very little idea of what it is that I will make. The art dictates what it will become as I’m making it, and it inspires me. The piece shapes itself and the process is what I enjoy. My art does not have meaning. I do not make art to convey a feeling or thought. I make art because the making brings me happiness. The creation of a piece of art that makes me feel good and weird and proud is why I make art.
Ceramics
In my ceramics I create hand-built pieces using slump and hump techniques that include free-formed floral details and rich surface textures. I combine underglazes, studio glazes, and raku firing, often inspired by organic forms like water and the human brain.
Collage
I create monochromatic collages using a curated collection of found materials, papers, and fibers organized by color. Guided by intuition, I build layered compositions that highlight the beauty of the strange, overlooked, and discarded, using mixed media and bold textures to bring each piece to life.
Drawings
In my drawings I use a spontaneous, intuitive process starting with random lines and shapes, then discovering the imagery within them. I like to blend contrasting elements like soft organic forms and sharp geometric lines, creating visually engaging pieces that challenge perception and reveal new details the longer you look at them.
