Michelle Atkinson- Bubblegum Sky

Michelle Atkinson is an internationally awarded multidisciplinary artist who creates contemporary artwork based on the environment and humanity’s effect on it. Atkinson earned a graphic design diploma (NMPD’03 with honours) from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Canada with which she has garnered international acclaim and over 30 awards. She was published in Belle Armoire Jewelry magazine (’19) for her copper electroforming work. She is the only person to win the Made in Alberta Awards (Avenue magazine) three times in three categories over three years (’19, ’21, ’22). Recently she obtained grants from both the Alberta Foundation for the Arts (’22) and the Canadian Council for the Arts (’21) for a yearlong installation work at the Leighton Art Centre (’23). Atkinson also donates her time yearly to the Rotary Club of Heritage Park’s Second Chance Art Sale and reclaims broken picture frame glass as part of her practice. Atkinson’s first large-scale permanent public art piece was unveiled as the entrance to the newly designed Wild Canada section of the Calgary Zoo (’23). Her most recent art commission for the Calgary Stampede’s corporate art collection can be found in the newly renovated BMO Centre (’24).

Disaster dressed in sweetness—Bubblegum Sky cloaks the 2023 McDougall Creek wildfire in playful tones that feel more like candy than catastrophe. The work draws from the same temperature data as the original series, but here it’s spun into soft, fantastical forms that invite delight before revealing their weight.

Cloud imagery and swirling glitter act like a magic wand, smoothing the fire’s sharp edges into dreamlike curves. The palette—Barbie pink, hubba-bubba purple, and pastel blue—leans into nostalgia and whimsy, pointing to our collective tendency to coat harsh truths in sugary illusions.

At first glance, it’s all sweetness, but the wildfire still smolders beneath.