Michel Keck is a self-taught, self-represented contemporary artist who built a full-time global art career outside the gallery system, selling over 5,000 original works and fine art prints to collectors in 40+ countries, achieving Platinum PowerSeller status, and earning major media coverage including a feature by The Daily Beast for her groundbreaking, unconventional approach. She is a multidisciplinary artist, creating abstract energy paintings, obsessive circle drawings, collages, and found-object assemblages and sculptures, and every piece is authentically Michel Keck — she does not use interns or assistants — turning each work into a visceral experience that lingers long after the first glance. A fierce advocate for artists’ rights, she has battled counterfeit sweatshops, unscrupulous retailers, and intellectual property theft, exposing the unlevel playing field in U.S. courts and fighting to ensure independent creators are seen, heard, and protected.

Michel Keck: Trailblazing, Self-Taught, Self-Representing Artist

MEET MICHEL 

Outside the System — By Design

Early Inspiration

Art has always been my sanctuary. From a young age, I identified as an artist, using creativity as both refuge and language. That instinctive beginning never left me. My work retains a raw, childlike quality—unfiltered, emotional, and deeply human—that continues to resonate with collectors worldwide. I have always lived by the belief that where focus goes, energy flows, and my life’s work reflects that truth.

The Unconventional Path

I began creating art full-time in early 2003 after reversing serious health challenges through a 100% raw food diet. Sharing my healing journey online led to an unconventional beginning: encouragement from another artist to sell my work independently on eBay.

Without gallery representation, agents, or intermediaries, that first step quickly expanded into a global audience. By deliberately eschewing the traditional gallery system and representing myself, I built a direct-to-collector model at a time when selling fine art online was considered radical—if not impossible.

In a remarkably short period of time, I achieved milestones rarely seen for a self-taught, self-representing artist. I became a Platinum PowerSeller, maintained that status, and by the end of 2006 had sold over 1,500 original paintings to collectors throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland, Chile, France, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Norway, Malta, Puerto Rico, and the United Arab Emirates.

That level of independent success drew the attention of major media outlets. In 2010, The Daily Beast reached out to profile my unconventional career in an article titled “Artist Michel Keck on eBay,” documenting how I was using the internet as my auction house of choice—selling art directly to collectors, generating consistently over $25k in monthly sales, and achieving Platinum PowerSeller status without any gallery representation. The article positioned my career as an early example of how artists could build sustainable, global success outside the traditional art-world gatekeeping system.

Today, my originals and fine art prints are held in over 5,000 private collections across more than 40 countries worldwide—all accomplished while remaining fully self-taught and self-representing.

Exhibitions and Collections

My work has been exhibited in London, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Indianapolis, High Point, Pittsburgh, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and Hong Kong. My art is held in both private and corporate collections, including actors such as Sigourney Weaver, who personally selected my pug collage for set dressing in a feature film, as well as professional athletes, restaurateurs, a prominent 2024 U.S. presidential candidate, and billionaire collector Chin H. Chu.

Inspiration and Influences

I draw inspiration from nature, personal life experiences, music, and my Christian faith. I am deeply fascinated by heart–brain coherence and the work of researchers such as Joe Dispenza and Gregg Braden. After the passing of my grandmother, the integration of scripture and symbolic cross elements became a defining theme in many of my works.

The Multidisciplinary Vision


I am a multidisciplinary artist, creating my visions through paintings, mixed-media collage, found-object assemblages, and sculpture. I make abstract paintings that I call my energy paintings, driven by the rhythms and sensations I feel as I create. I am an obsessive doodler, visible in my circle drawings, and I am deeply passionate about crafting collages and constructing assemblages and sculptures from objects that carry their own histories and energies.

Collectors often remark that my portfolio appears as if it could belong to several different artists — a testament to my curiosity, experimentation, and creative restlessness. I am drawn to exploring complex themes like the battle between good and evil, a fascination reflected in works like Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights. As John Yimin, advisor/caretaker of The Ioema Collection, observed, “Keck’s expansive surfaces command the attention of passers‑by, reward the focus of new as well as seasoned collectors and transform a static wall into a crystal ball. Few creations rival the pure power, active style and personal impact of Keck’s work.”

Heart, Mind & Creative Coherence

My found-object heart assemblages are born from what I experience as true heart–brain coherence—a state where the rhythms of the heart and mind align and the body enters balance and flow. Research from institutions such as the HeartMath Institute shows that when people generate sincere emotions like love, gratitude, or compassion, heart rhythms become smooth and synchronized with brain activity, improving clarity, emotional stability, and resilience.

Inspired by teachings on the heart–brain connection, I believe that when we create from this aligned state—where intention, emotion, rhythm, and mind are unified—we access a deeper intelligence. Each heart I build becomes a physical vessel for coherence, regeneration, resilience, and connection.

Advocacy for Artists’ Rights

After experiencing significant intellectual property theft by individuals and corporations worldwide, I became a vocal advocate for artists’ rights. I have witnessed firsthand how independent creators are often treated differently than celebrities and large corporations. When my federally registered trademark was waived in court without my knowledge or authorization (full details here), it further solidified my commitment to speaking out, raising awareness, and pushing for fairness and accountability for independent artists.

The Creative Process

Creating art is a cathartic and deeply emotional process for me—an unpredictable journey of highs, lows, and transformation. Each piece captures the energy present in that moment, reflecting both my inner world and the pulse of the world around me. Through my work, I invite viewers into raw, unfiltered emotion—grounding them in the present and offering connection, release, and movement. My art celebrates change, resilience, and the power of letting go.