Mikaela Perry is a visual artist and fifth-generation farmer exploring and celebrating contemporary agriculture and food systems through oil paintings. After losing her family's farm, symbolizing the personal and professional end of an agricultural era, she dedicated her artistic practice to telling farmers' stories and elevating rural lifestyles and communities. Perry holds a B.A. in Political Science from Middlebury College and an M.A. in Food Studies from NYU, and has studied visual arts under artists Catherine Clinger, Cameron Martin, Jessica Durrant, and Susan Abbott. She splits her creative time between Vermont and New York City, bridging the rural-urban gap with her paintings, and fostering increased connection between communities and their land.
I explore contemporary issues in agriculture and the food system through oil, gouache, and watercolor paintings. My paintings represent both a eulogy and a celebration of life for the animals, farm, and communities that shaped me into the artist I am today. As a former fifth-generation farmer, I have a deep connection to the land; Following the loss of my family's farm, I have come to understand that this connection is predominantly spiritual, cultural and ancestral.Through my paintings, I honor the traditions and values that have been passed down through my family for generations, and invite those who may be multiple generations removed from agriculture and farming to also reflect on their own cultural ties and relationships with food and the earth.Each of my paintings tells a story of life and death, growth and decay, and the beauty that can be found in both. They are a love letter and tribute to the farmers and growers who work tirelessly to feed our communities, and seek to inspire others to connect with the land that sustains us, to honor the traditions and cultures that have shaped our relationship with animals and food, and to recognize the beauty and fragility of our farmland.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.