Michael Van Huffel (he/him/his)
Santa Cruz, CA
“I was in a tough state prior to this photography project. It brought an unexpected and deep relationship, and finally feeling productive again. Since I started, I feel much less like I am disappearing and it's given me much hope for a real future.”
Michael Van Huffel enjoyed a successful career as an artist, animator, Creative Director, and musician. His career got a jumpstart when he began working with the musician Prince, as a staff artist, and eventually Art Director. He also has also worked in motion design, TV and movies, and served as Creative Director for numerous projects in advertising and entertainment.
In 2007, Michael unexpectedly developed Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS) a devastating and poorly-understood neuroimmune condition. Michael began to face loss after loss. Unable to work and eventually housebound, his career, home, and the life he built were lost due to hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical co-pays. Life became very different and solitary. He relocated to a one-room studio outside San Francisco, and has been taking part in the largest-yet studies on his disease at Stanford. That room became his de-facto art studio.
Michael describes that his life for 8 years turned into an isolated existence, that most relationships had become virtual, except for home infusion nurses and very occasional visitors. The most recent transformation in his art career, and what you see featured on ArtLifting, occurred when he received an iPhone on a family plan, and an artist friend suggested they start a photo-a-day project. Michael describes that “this became a search to find beautiful or interesting things within an apartment that had only been accumulating painful associations using numerous physical and technical limitations as a means to a unique style and meaning. This also unexpectedly led to a relationship, a partner—something that had long seemed a lost part of life.”
In this past few years, his life has welcomed big changes and transitions. He got married and relocated to Santa Cruz. Michael can occasionally get outside for short walks and is now close to a lot of natural beauty. Nearly all of the photos use things he collects while outdoors. He then brings the objects, whatever they may be, back to photograph when he is feeling well enough. The photos are often expressionistic—an attempt to make things look like something other than what they are—such as paintings, sea creatures, or landscapes. He aims to convey emotions and feelings and for viewers to see and find interesting corners of his world.
To learn more about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), please visit the Open Medicine Foundation and follow the groundbreaking study mentioned in Michael’s bio. In addition, see the multiple award-winning documentary, Unrest, created by a woman living with the disease.
read morePrints by Michael Van Huffel (he/him/his)
A Purple Ghost
Michael Van HuffelAcceleration
Michael Van HuffelActual Antiquity
Michael Van HuffelAll The Lights
Michael Van HuffelAlmost Amber
Michael Van HuffelAnglehead
Michael Van HuffelAntimatter
Michael Van HuffelArchitecture
Michael Van HuffelArcs
Michael Van HuffelAriel
Michael Van HuffelAstro Pop
Michael Van HuffelAurora
Michael Van HuffelBalancing Act
Michael Van HuffelBeauty Mark
Michael Van HuffelBig Bang Boom
Michael Van HuffelBlack Forest
Michael Van HuffelBlue Genie
Michael Van HuffelBlue, 2 AM
Michael Van HuffelBlush
Michael Van HuffelBreaking Glass
Michael Van HuffelBridge
Michael Van HuffelBright Tahoe
Michael Van HuffelBrink
Michael Van HuffelBurst
Michael Van HuffelBurst
Michael Van HuffelButterflies Hideout
Michael Van HuffelBy the Light of the Silvery Moon
Michael Van HuffelBy Wham-O
Michael Van HuffelCanopy
Michael Van HuffelCascade
Michael Van HuffelCathedral
Michael Van HuffelChampagne Lipstick
Michael Van HuffelChemistry (See Figure One)
Michael Van HuffelCherry Cola
Michael Van HuffelClara
Michael Van HuffelCleopatra (Was Actually Greek)
Michael Van HuffelCopper and Silver
Michael Van HuffelCosmic Jellies
Michael Van HuffelCrepe
Michael Van HuffelDacite
Michael Van HuffelDeimos
Michael Van HuffelDiptych
Michael Van HuffelDon't Play in Traffic
Michael Van HuffelDrifting
Michael Van HuffelDrukpa K
Michael Van HuffelEast
Michael Van HuffelEinstein's Hairdo
Michael Van HuffelEntropy, Hi!
Michael Van HuffelEtched in Water and Stormy Light
Michael Van HuffelEuropa
Michael Van HuffelEverything Was Illuminated
Michael Van HuffelExpedition
Michael Van HuffelEye of Newt
Michael Van HuffelFan Out
Michael Van HuffelFilaments
Michael Van HuffelFlight
Michael Van HuffelFrayed
Michael Van HuffelFrogtown
Michael Van HuffelGathering
Michael Van HuffelGlamorous
Michael Van HuffelGrasses
Michael Van HuffelGuess
Michael Van HuffelHai-an Range
Michael Van HuffelHeritage Curves
Michael Van HuffelHidden Beach
Michael Van HuffelHoudini
Michael Van HuffelHow It All Starts
Michael Van HuffelI Had to Go Over There
Michael Van HuffelI'd Like to See Japan
Michael Van HuffelI'm Not Groot
Michael Van HuffelIn Slow Motion
Michael Van HuffelIndustry
Michael Van HuffelIntersection(s)
Michael Van HuffelIntertwined
Michael Van HuffelInto and Under
Michael Van HuffelInto the Deep
Michael Van HuffelInvaders
Michael Van HuffelIt Looked Better Like this
Michael Van HuffelIt's All Here
Michael Van HuffelKing Tide
Michael Van HuffelLake Shore
Michael Van HuffelLake Tahoe Sunset
Michael Van HuffelLake, Mountain and Sky
Michael Van HuffelLarissa
Michael Van HuffelLavender Martini
Michael Van HuffelLeapfrog
Michael Van HuffelLight Catcher
Michael Van HuffelLight Leaks
Michael Van HuffelLush
Michael Van HuffelMachine Shop
Michael Van HuffelMaghiib
Michael Van HuffelMatter Is Energy, and Vice Versa
Michael Van HuffelMay 31st, 1985
Michael Van HuffelMonarch
Michael Van HuffelNatural Bridges 3 PM
Michael Van HuffelNefertiti
Michael Van HuffelNeon Rally
Michael Van HuffelNeon-like
Michael Van HuffelNerve
Michael Van HuffelNetwork
Michael Van HuffelNight Light
Michael Van HuffelNomads
Michael Van HuffelNot Done Being Beautiful
Michael Van HuffelOasis
Michael Van HuffelOregon with Ricky
Michael Van HuffelParasol
Michael Van HuffelPicnic
Michael Van HuffelPlum Blossom
Michael Van HuffelPoseidon's Dream
Michael Van HuffelPotion
Michael Van HuffelPrecipice
Michael Van HuffelRabbit Ears
Michael Van HuffelRapids
Michael Van HuffelReaching
Michael Van HuffelReaching Up in the Dark
Michael Van HuffelRed Vines
Michael Van HuffelRising
Michael Van HuffelSatellite 1
Michael Van HuffelSatellite 2
Michael Van HuffelSatellite 3
Michael Van HuffelSavanna
Michael Van HuffelShe, So Beloved
Michael Van HuffelShinjuku Station
Michael Van HuffelSno Cone
Michael Van HuffelSoft and Spiky
Michael Van HuffelSoft White
Michael Van HuffelSoos
Michael Van HuffelSpace, Water, Ice, Signed
Michael Van HuffelSummer Air
Michael Van HuffelSunburst
Michael Van HuffelSundown Stage Left
Michael Van HuffelSunspots
Michael Van HuffelSupernova
Michael Van HuffelSurge
Michael Van HuffelSuspension
Michael Van HuffelSympathetic Vibrations
Michael Van HuffelSympathetic Vibrations 2
Michael Van HuffelTangerine Superhighway
Michael Van HuffelTemple
Michael Van HuffelTethered
Michael Van HuffelThe Blue Deep
Michael Van HuffelThe Cyclone at Idora Park
Michael Van HuffelThe Fourth State of Matter
Michael Van HuffelThe Mothership in Bloom
Michael Van HuffelThe Other Rainbow
Michael Van HuffelThe Other Side
Michael Van HuffelThe Samurai vs the Serpent
Michael Van HuffelThe Sky and The Deep
Michael Van HuffelThere's a Lot Going On
Michael Van HuffelTiger Tail
Michael Van HuffelTiger Tail 2
Michael Van HuffelTilt a Whirl
Michael Van HuffelTop of the Crest
Michael Van HuffelTravelers
Michael Van HuffelUnderwater at Night
Michael Van HuffelVibrating
Michael Van HuffelVillage
Michael Van HuffelViolet Arch
Michael Van HuffelVortex
Michael Van HuffelWaiting for the Signal
Michael Van HuffelWater Shiver
Michael Van HuffelWell Somebody's Gotta Hold Up the Sky
Michael Van HuffelWest
Michael Van HuffelWomb
Michael Van HuffelWorld of Tomorrow
Michael Van HuffelYou Strike the Rock
Michael Van HuffelArtLifting champions artists impacted by disabilities and housing insecurity by connecting their art with socially-conscious customers . Learn more here.