About The Artist
About Michael Vilkin
Michael’s lifelong interest in art was sparked during his childhood in Beverly Hills, where he painted alongside his mother and two aunts, all three of whom were accomplished oil painters. Eventually, he moved from painting to other mediums and won two county-wide awards for his work in ceramic sculpture. Though he started at Stanford University as an art major, Michael graduated with a degree in psychology and then took an even more practical direction by heading to UC Berkeley for his MBA.
What followed was a multi-decade career in construction and real estate development, both areas that called on Michael’s artistic expression through architecture and design. But regardless of how creative the work might have been, it wasn’t quite enough. During this period, Michael continued to follow his heart as a fine artist, focusing on large-scale mosaic sculptures and assemblage, often using found objects. Then, in 2011, he circled back to painting, a more portable endeavor that allowed him to travel and create.
Like many other artists, Michael has partial color blindness, though he has found ways to navigate this in his paintings. He has a predilection for brighter colors that are easier to see and make a powerful impact. He also uses a camera to enhance the difference between colors, as a guide for the final piece. So, what might limit someone else is just part of Michael’s unique way of seeing the world.
Since 2003, Michael has lived in Santa Barbara, California—the American Riviera—with his husband Steven. Here, they designed and built their home, Pentimento, named for the visible traces of an earlier painting revealed in a work of art. In addition to many carefully placed Vilkin paintings, Pentimento is filled with treasures collected over years of world travel, ephemera from scouring flea markets and antique malls, and select family heirlooms.
Now retired from construction, Michael devotes himself to working in the dedicated art studio adjacent to the main house. His paintings have been shown at local galleries, recognized in juried exhibitions, and bought by collectors. Not unlike the design for his Santa Barbara “house on the hill,” Michael’s paintings often include juxtapositions of non-obvious pairings and tend to draw the viewer in, layer upon layer. Whether still life, portraiture, abstract expressionism, or landscape, they reflect the depth and breadth of an artistic vision that continues to evolve.