Michele Kishita is a Philadelphia-based artist who is strongly influenced by the graphic stylizations and compressed spaces of Japanese ukiyo-e prints. Investigating the dialogue between the wooden surfaces on which she paints and the trees from which those panels were built, she looks at and uses the woodgrain to understand how a tree's experiences are indelibly written on its interior and is a historical account of the landscape from which the tree grew. Kishita’s paintings are in a number of private/corporate collections, including Toyota, Capital One, and Kaiser Permanente. She holds a BFA and an MFA in painting from the University of the Arts.