Michelle Rahbar

Michelle Rahbar is a visual artist based in Austin,Texas. Her work intertwines the railroad yards and gothic landscape of the shores of Lake Michigan where she grew up, with her love of the West Texas desert and beyond. Inspired by her travels and love of modern folktales she tells her own stories to carry the viewer into her inner landscape. Rahbar’s work focuses on how loss reshapes you, how we reframe the idea of home throughout our lives and how past trauma can be cultivated into strength and beauty.

After receiving her BFA in Painting & Drawing from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, she moved to Austin and has since exhibited across Texas in select curated and invitational exhibitions. Her paintings have appeared in national art publications and been acquired for both private and public art collections. She’s held positions as a writer for a local art magazine, an art educator, art juror and is a contributing member of Bolm Arts Collective. In 2024 she mounted her first solo exhibition, The World Doesn’t End, and is currently creating a new body of work for her next show in fall of 2025.