Interview With
Strange and Wonderful Creatures of Nature
2/19/24
FILE: 0027
Micah Ofstedahl
Archive00
To begin with, what is the correct pronunciation of your name?
Micah Ofstedahl
My-kuh Off-steh-dahl.
Archive00
Where are you from?
Micah Ofstedahl
I am originally from Austin, Minnesota and currently live in Ashland, Oregon.
Archive00
How was childhood?
Micah Ofstedahl
I had a good childhood. I grew up in a fairly small town and had several friends in the neighborhood. We played outside a lot, getting baseball or football games together or building forts in the woods. We were also a close family (and still are). I have two older brothers and a sister who is ten years younger than I. I remember playing a lot of hockey in the basement and board games at the kitchen table.
Archive00
Sounds like a lot of fun. Why did you move to Ashland?
Micah Ofstedahl
I moved to Ashland from Santa Cruz, CA because it was too expensive and hard to find a decent place to live. My wife is from Ashland so it made sense as a landing spot.
Archive00
I see. When did you start painting?
Micah Ofstedahl
It depends on what you would consider the start. I enjoyed art as a child and never really lost it. My favorite classes in grade school were art and I took as many art classes as I could in high school. In college I focused mainly on sculpture and ceramics and took just one painting class. I hadn't painted much for a few years following college as I was playing in a band and working full time. In 2009, when the band ended, I picked up the paint brushes again and haven't stopped.
Archive00
That’s really cool. What was your position in the band? What sort of music were you making?
Micah Ofstedahl
I was the guitar player. The music we were making is hard to describe, but we were influenced by funk, psychedelic, and rock mostly.
Archive00
Which genres of music do you enjoy? Any singers/bands that you like?
Micah Ofstedahl
I like a lot of different styles. There’s good and bad stuff in every genre. Pink Floyd, Tool, Radiohead and Beach House are some big name favorites that come to mind but I listen to a lot of lesser-known music as well and always like to explore new stuff.
Archive00
Would you like to share one of those lesser-known artists with our readers?
Micah Ofstedahl
I don’t know where to begin. Sleepy Sun, Blonde Redhead, Youth Lagoon. Most of the lesser-known artists don’t stand out as favorites to me, but I like to change it up as much as possible.
Archive00
Thanks! Both being creative arts, how does the role of music and art differ in your life?
Micah Ofstedahl
Well, I never really made any money as a musician, haha! Not that I’m making much now either. One big difference is that as an artist, I am on my own. All the creative and business decisions are up to me, as is all of the work, the motivation, everything. This is mostly a good fit for me, but I do miss the camaraderie of a band and sharing that experience with good friends. I am much more of a hermit now.
Archive00
In that sense would you say that going into art kind of changed your personality/lifestyle…?
Micah Ofstedahl
I don’t think it necessarily changed my personality. I think I have always been more comfortable with having plenty of alone time and not being in many social situations. I would say that by being alone more, in the art studio, it has continued to feed that part of my personality. It’s interesting to think about how my life would be different if I continued the more social life of being in a band.
Archive00
With the sort of art that you are making, is alone time or time with nature important to keeping your creative juices flowing? Or do you sometimes re-charge your batteries by spending time with people?
Micah Ofstedahl
I would say its very important for me to spend time in nature and have alone time and few distractions. Not only is nature a direct inspiration for my art but it also feeds and/or cleanses my soul in a way that is hard to quantify. Social events or interactions can stress me out but I know it is also good for the soul. I usually feel energized but at the same time exhausted from spending time with people. Unfortunately all of my close friends and family live far away but it is good to see them when I can.
Archive00
Looking back, was becoming an artist always part of the plan?
Micah Ofstedahl
No. I wouldn't say I ever had much of a plan! :) I went to college just to go to college, and at some point I decided art would be my major because I couldn't think of anything else, but I still wasn't really thinking of the possibility of being an artist. When I sold my first painting - my first real painting, once I had developed my style - it gave me the encouragement to keep going. You could say I'm still working on that plan.
Archive00
Having picked art as you major, what happened between that and you decision to work full-time in a band?
Micah Ofstedahl
I was actually working full time and was in a band. I had been in a band since high school. I continued that through college and for a few years after I graduated. There isn’t much you can do with a bachelors degree in fine arts, so I just got a job and continued to play in the band for a while.
Archive00
Some people consider art to be one of those ‘mysterious’ industries where only the ‘chosen ones’ have the opportunity to go into. What do you think?
Micah Ofstedahl
That’s a difficult question. You could ask that about any career or life-path. It opens up the conversation of free-will or fate, or some of both. On one hand I worked really hard and spent as much time as I could to get where I am now, and will continue to do so. But where did that initial drive come from? I would say its nature and nurture. My biology was set up in such a way that when mixed with every single experience of my life it has created the person I am today, and that process will continue until I die.
Archive00
Tell us a bit about the first “real painting” that you sold. What’s the story behind it?
Micah Ofstedahl
It was largely inspired by images out of a Grey’s Anatomy book. I particularly liked the images that were less recognizable like cellular level stuff, cross-sections, and vascular patterns. I took bits and pieces of those images and altered them, and added my own creative elements and placed them in sort of a surreal landscape, but with layers or levels. It is called “Mother’s Egg” and is up on my website if you scroll to the bottom of the prints page.
Archive00
Being multifaceted and with experience in other fields, how does working as an artist feel different to your previous job(s)?
Micah Ofstedahl
It is different in every way. I had just one job that was related to art, and that was as a picture framer, but that was still of course very different than being an artist. The only downside I can think of to being an artist is the ups and downs of income. It can still be stressful in other ways too, like gallery deadlines, and with all responsibilities and pressure on just you, the artist and business owner, but any job or career will have stress in one way or another.
Archive00
Indeed. To expand on that question, does the music and the art industry feel different to you in any way?
Micah Ofstedahl
I honestly wouldn’t know that much about the music industry. We never got that big. We did everything ourselves, from recording our albums to planning our shows and a few tours. Neither one of them are easy to make money with and keep afloat, but I think the music industry is even more difficult. I know even less about what it’s like now, as I haven’t been in a band since streaming took off.
Archive00
Sure. I want to talk a little bit about your work process. What is your working environment like?
Micah Ofstedahl
It's just a room in my house. For the most part it's fine for painting, but space can be an issue when I am busy packing up paintings and prints.
Archive00
Do you have a routine?
Micah Ofstedahl
Nothing too strict. I am pretty slow in the mornings. I usually check a few things off the list before I start painting, like emails, pack up any print sales, and other business stuff. I also usually do some yoga/stretching, go for a walk, or some sort of exercise. I paint and/or take care of the art business almost every day.
Archive00
How do you usually get started on a project?
Micah Ofstedahl
I have a collection of photos I keep on hand for potential painting references. When I'm ready to start a new piece I will go through those and see what inspires me at the moment. Then I will try to figure out what sort of design or pattern I want to include as the clear-looking distorted element. This could come from my head or from a variety of books full of inspirational imagery, such as Ernst Haeckel's illustrations of biological forms or books of microscopic imagery and patterns in nature.
Archive00
What is it about biological forms and microscopic imageries that particularly interests you?
Micah Ofstedahl
It’s hard to say why, but I find many of the forms to be beautiful. Maybe more than that is the mysterious nature of them, particularly the microscopic or lesser-known creatures.
Radiolarians for example, are tiny single-cell organisms but have a beautiful, complex, geometric “skeleton” to them. I didn’t even know they existed until my late twenties and when I saw images of them I was blown away and had to read up on them to find out they were a real thing existing on this planet. So, I just love that kind of thing where you can be surprised and amazed at the complexity and beauty and mystery of this universe.
Archive00
I’ve never heard of them either. I have seen people comparing cellular structures to images of the galaxy and the two look uncannily alike. There is something quite philosophical to this process of studying cellular structures. It’s as if while you are looking into some of the smallest units in the world you are simultaneously looking out to the entirety of our universe…
Micah Ofstedahl
Yes, and that makes me think of infinity as well as the relative nature of size. A cell could seem infinitely large relative to a particle, and a universe could seem infinitely small if you could imagine being trillions of times larger than a universe.
Archive00
You are excellent at painting distorted landscapes. How did you get into landscape painting?
Micah Ofstedahl
Thank you. My current style with the realistic landscape backgrounds started in 2019. I had a sketch of some pitcher plants but didn't have much of an idea for the background. I decided to use a landscape photograph I had for inspiration for the background. I ended up painting quite realistically, and then at some point I decided to paint the pitcher plants as if they were clear. I was happy with the results, and with the change from my previous style so I stuck with it.
Archive00
And what does the distortion represent?
Micah Ofstedahl
They can represent many different things, but in general they represent mysteries and invisible concepts. So, it could be spiritual, unanswered scientific questions, our paths through time and space, or other dimensions. It often makes people think of psychedelic experiences, and I get a surprising amount of people saying that they see things like this without having taken any psychedelics, or in their dreams. In general, I like to leave them open to interpretation.
Archive00
Have you personally had experiences of witnessing views similar to that portrayed in you paintings?
Micah Ofstedahl
No, I haven’t actually seen anything like the distortions that are in my paintings. Not even in my dreams that I can remember.
Archive00
Where do you usually go to find inspiration?
Micah Ofstedahl
Most of the landscapes are based on photos from hikes around here in southern Oregon, and some are from other places I have traveled through. And the patterns or designs for the distortions often come from those books I mentioned or just from my imagination. Nature in general is my source of direct and indirect inspiration. Music and mysterious concepts or subject matter can also be a source of inspiration.
Archive00
Can you give us some examples of mysterious concepts that fascinate you?
Micah Ofstedahl
Well, I mentioned a few earlier like spirituality or unanswered scientific questions. That could involve quantum physics, other dimensions, life outside of Earth, mysterious forms of communication such as psychic mediums or that between other life forms. We have probably only scratched the surface understanding how plants and animals communicate. Infinity is fun to think about… time and space… Then there are the questions we haven’t even considered yet.
Archive00
When you mention psychic mediums, it seems like you are trying to explore an abstract, even somehow spiritual realm through something exact and scientific like microscopic cellular structures. The duality there really interests me…
Micah Ofstedahl
In a way I am trying to bridge that gap between science and spirituality. I often think of spirituality or religion as just a way to explain the mysteries of life. Often times, science answers spiritual questions or conflicts with spiritual beliefs. I think that is partially why I don’t subscribe to a specific religion or set of strict beliefs. Imagine believing with conviction that the Earth is flat and is the center of the universe because that’s the way God made it, and then science proves otherwise. I don’t believe that process is over. I’m not saying that science is out to prove religion or spirituality wrong, but it might answer some of those questions.
Archive00
I would like to go back a bit in time. How did your earlier works portraying structures reminiscent of tissues and cellular structures gradually develop into your later style?
Micah Ofstedahl
It was actually a pretty sudden change as I described earlier, but yes, my earlier work had some of those elements in it. I began with anatomy as my main source of inspiration and after a handful of paintings I discovered Ernst Haeckel's biological illustrations, and then other sources of inspiration from forms and patterns in nature. I often altered those forms and added my own creative elements while putting them into a surreal landscape. I still use a lot of the same sources for inspiration, and in a lot of ways the paintings represent similar concepts.
Archive00
By painting landscapes in a naturalistic style but adding surreal twists, you challenge their potential for distortion and augmentation. I feel the power in the nature’s changeability in your works. Can you tell us a bit more about your style of painting nature?
Micah Ofstedahl
I start with portraying it realistically. I’m not 100% sure why, but I think I just want to represent its beauty as the way we see it to represent reality. I get very detailed partially because that is simply the way I like to paint but I think conceptually it helps portray the beauty and complexity of nature. Then, the distortions add the more creative element and represent the mystery and allow the viewer to see it under a different light or give them something more to think about.
Archive00
There are rarely human figures present in your canvas. Is that a conscious decision?
Micah Ofstedahl
I don’t know if it’s really a conscious decision, I just haven’t had the desire to represent the human figure, or most animals for that matter, at least not common animals. I think I like to keep things more mysterious and let the viewer have the experience of looking through a window rather than a mirror, in a way. It seems like everyone is painting humans and animals anyway, so I don’t think we need any more. That said, I’m not opposed to it. I was thinking about it recently how I could do that in my own way, so it’s not off the table.
Archive00
“Let the viewer have the experience of looking through a window rather than a mirror”. Can you expand on this statement and tell us bit more about the difference between the two?
Micah Ofstedahl
I see it as more of a window if there is not a human in the painting. You, the viewer are the subject looking out into and experiencing the landscape. If there is already someone in the painting, they are probably a strong subject or focus of the painting. Artists who paint figures almost always say they are trying to represent “the human experience”, so in that way it is like looking into a mirror because you are a human looking at a painting about humans.
Archive00
That’s a really fascinating difference to think about. However, not everyone have a good relationship with nature. How did you find your affinity for it? Does it have anything to do with the environment you grew up in?
Micah Ofstedahl
I do not understand having a poor relationship with nature. The beauty and peacefulness keeps me sane. I would feel like I was living in a prison if I didn’t go out into nature on a regular basis, and I don’t even live in a big city. I don’t think it’s natural or healthy the way we humans are now surrounded by concrete, steel, and glass, not to mention pollution, noise, and lights. I grew up in a small town but I wasn’t exactly surrounded by beautiful nature. It was mostly farmland. Maybe that’s partially why I appreciate it so much now, because once I moved to coastal California and Oregon I started hiking a lot more and soaking up the beauty.
Archive00
The normalisation of the unnaturalness of modern life is indeed a big topic up for debate nowadays. When you devote such time and effort to reconstructing the beauty of nature on canvas, is there an attempt to highlight and perhaps combat this unnaturalness?
Micah Ofstedahl
Yes, I would say that is part of what I am doing.
Archive00
I can really feel your respect for and fascination in nature through this conversation. What are your feelings toward the evolution of high-tech and attempts to overcome our natural disadvantages - in some ways attempts to conquer nature or recreate its designs?
Micah Ofstedahl
While I am fascinated with the natural world, and it shows in my work, I also take interest in technology and where its going and where it will take us. The leading edge of tech, and what’s beyond that edge, falls into that category of unanswered scientific questions I mentioned earlier - one of the mysteries that might inspire my work.
I often wonder where all this technology is leading. I try to be optimistic that it is taking us somewhere wonderful, but I think it will always be a double-edged sword. There are of course many benefits to new tech but there is always a cost. What benefits one person may be detrimental to another. Or, it might be both beneficial and detrimental to the same person - social media, for example. And of course, we are destroying our planet, but maybe new tech can help save it. Basically I see new tech as an endless cycle of solving and creating problems. Hopefully, it can take us to a place that brings us closer to nature again, where we are working with it.
Archive00
There are ways of seeing technology’s development as organisms’ ‘natural’ evolvement from carbon-based life towards silicon-based life. I guess its cyclical nature also mimics nature’s cycle of creation and destruction in some ways. What is your view on how ‘natural’ technological development is?
Micah Ofstedahl
Well, it is strange, because it often doesn’t seem natural. We see ourselves separate from nature. I suppose the obvious reason for that is because we are the only species that manipulates its environment to such a degree which only seems to be growing exponentially. But, I do often go to the question, what is natural? That’s a whole other discussion, but I am concerned that what we are doing is unnatural to the degree that it is out of balance with the rest of the natural world which is destructive not only to it, but to us. After all, we are a part of it.
For example, the way we farm is unnatural because it is out of balance with nature and is unsustainable. It actually depletes the land and contaminates the waterways. I know modern farming techniques are not what we think about when discussing leading tech, but it is an example of why I am skeptical of technology and unnatural practices. If only we always had our best interests in mind with our new tech and not just short-term profits. As far as things like AI and quantum computing go, I have no idea what that world will look like. It wasn’t that long ago that we couldn’t have predicted the world we live in today with smartphones, social media, and even the internet, just to name a few. I’m sure bigger and faster changes are coming.
Archive00
Would you say that a return to/close(r) relationship with nature is your vision of the most desirable state of our world?
Micah Ofstedahl
I think it is our only option. Not that we have to go back to pre-industrial revolution, but I think we will have to remember that nature has it pretty well figured out. We have to use its strengths and sustainably take advantage of what is has to offer. I am fairly optimistic that we will figure out sustainable clean energy, for example. Maybe not soon enough, but that is one area that new tech and nature are working together and it will need to advance further.
Archive00
Moving into another topic, what is one thing that everyone seems to agree on that you have never quite understood?
Micah Ofstedahl
Pop music, and most other pop culture and trends.
Archive00
How about the mixing of pop culture symbols in art?
Micah Ofstedahl
It might depend on the specific art, but in general I would say that’s not for me. I’ve never understood the appeal of Andy Warhol, for example. That said, I don’t mean to rip on it. If you’re creating art and doing no harm, go for it.
Archive00
I can see how pop culture perhaps doesn’t go well with what you are most interested in, that being unaffected, natural forms. Would it be something you are willing to explore though if you move on to portray other topics in the future? Or do you generally find depicting pop culture in art to be slightly uncomfortable?
Micah Ofstedahl
I don’t see myself going there. If I did, it would be in a satirical way. Maybe I will paint the McDonald’s arches in my style, placing them in a natural landscape as if they were clear. Probably not. I just don’t see the need to bring attention to something that already has plenty of it.
Archive00
I understand. I’d still be really interested in seeing the McDonald’s arch in your style though haha. What would you be doing if you did not become an artist?
Micah Ofstedahl
That's a good question. There's what I would want to be doing and what I would probably actually be doing. :) There was one point that I was considering going to graduate school to potentially become an art professor, but then I sold a painting. I am very grateful to spend most of my time as an artist, although I am still hanging onto one day a week at my day job. It is something I have gradually cut down on over the years.
Archive00
What’s your day job?
Micah Ofstedahl
I make bagels at my mother-in-law’s bagel shop.
Archive00
That’s really sweet. This conversation has been a pleasure. Finally, tell us a secret.
Micah Ofstedahl
I’m a Minnesota sports fan. I’ll watch some hockey or football when I can and listen to Minnesota sports podcasts.
