What gets left behind? Discarded. Released from our everyday. The disposable cups that once contained coffee shared over conversation. Plastic bottles and jugs with colorful caps. The liners holding cereal or crackers and the printed cardboard packaging protecting their contents. Mylar wrappings that present shiny, reflective surfaces. I’m interested in exploring the accumulation of this daily bounty of refuse, my responsibilities to it, and the captured moments they possess. How might they be developed into a new type of material, object or adornment? What are the opportunities for personal connection and reflection?  – Michael Koch

Michael’s creative studio is located within his home in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. There he explores the possibilities of materials accumulated from his every day. Those items that have a level of resilience like disposable plastics, all types of lids, mylar packaging and such. Stitching, crochet, and weaving are some of the techniques he employs to imagine ways of joining and connecting. He is curious for a kind of transformation where what was shifts to what might be. Michael began the development of his visual and construction skills in the Textiles Department at the Rhode Island School of Design. He received his BFA in 1987. From there, he moved to New York City and started a successful design career in the textile industry. Along the way, he was a senior designer in the Larsen Design Studio, became VP of Design for a Jacquard wovens manufacturer and ultimately opened his own freelance design studio. In 2004, an opportunity to purchase a weaving and yarn twisting mill located in downtown LA, had him and his husband, heading West. Once there, he applied those accumulated skills to help build a strong and viable, design driven resource where he collaborated with, and supplied, leaders in the design community. Since selling the mill in 2019, Michael has focused his efforts on the progressive development of his personal artwork.

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