Micah Ofstedahl
Micah Ofstedahl
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"Micah Ofstedahl’s sun-drenched fields, botanically-kissed mountain sides, wind-swept valleys and zen-inducing plains seem to scintillate, vibrate and radiate in ways that are typically imperceptible to mere mortals. Upon immersing ourselves within the acrylic painter’s visually transcendent environments, something magical happens – our pulse begins to slow down a little, causing our worldly pressures to fall away. Then and only then are the artist’s glassy, shimmering, time-space continuum ripples finally perceivable to the beholder. It is through his lacy, hallucinatory louvres – which mimic mother nature’s cellular artistry – that Micah Ofstedahl’s mind-bending journey begins."
- Elizah Leigh, BeautifulBizarre.net
Biography
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in 1982 in Austin, Minnesota, Micah is an artist who reimagines the natural world as a space where perception bends and reality fractures. Now based in Oregon, he explores what he calls “altered realism,” where hyper-realistic landscapes are disrupted by unseen forces—patterns and distortions that ripple through the familiar, revealing hidden structures beneath the surface of reality. His work invites viewers to question what is tangible and what exists just beyond our perception.
This evolution follows a decade-long exploration of “biological surrealism,” influenced by anatomical forms and the intricate 19th-century illustrations of Ernst Haeckel. Micah’s fascination with organic structures is rooted in an early sensitivity to precision and form—a childhood impulse to correct every stray mark in his coloring books, an instinct that would later translate into an obsessive exploration of structure, movement, and balance.
Formally trained at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where he earned a BFA in sculpture and ceramics, Micah’s sculptural background continues to inform his practice. His paintings exist at the intersection of control and chaos, where the solidity of the landscape meets the ephemeral distortions that ripple through it. Inspired by M.C. Escher and Salvador Dalí, his work does not merely depict nature but exposes its fractures—suggesting that time, space, and perception are more fluid than they appear.
Selected Works
Through my paintings, I invite viewers to delve into a world where reality is both familiar and transformed - a bridge between the visible and concealed.
Beginning with a realistic representation of a landscape, a touch of mystery is then added with patterns of clear distortions as if made of water, glass, or invisible energies.
The work might inspire the viewer to look at the world a little differently, or imply that there is more than what we can observe with our remarkable, yet limited senses and filters. There continues to be so much to discover about ourselves and the universe, and some things may never be explained. Some viewers might have a more spiritual interpretation, or think of more abstract concepts like pathways of our existence through space and time, the "butterfly effect", other dimensions, or simply the feeling you get when you are soaking in a beautiful landscape or sunset.
Ultimately, it is up to the viewer to to experience the art and hopefully be inspired, discover, make connections, feel emotions, see things differently, and allow the mind to wander.
Artist Statement
