The dynamic artistry of M.J. Levy Dickson is inspired by the beauty she experiences every day. She is an artist and educator who has created an extensive body of work spanning oil paints, acrylics, watercolor, charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, glass, and repurposed materials. M.J.’s abstract interpretation of nature in her work allows the viewer to see the world in an entirely different way. Her creativity is the art of the possible, the fusion of harmonious elements with variations of light and shadow, colorful accents, and shapes revealed in interesting and thought provoking ways. MJ has taught at MIT, set up the art studio in the graphic design department at Wenzhou-Kean University in China, and teaches in the Studio One Program of Fountain House in New York, an organization for people with mental illness. She has completed three projects in India on a Fulbright Scholarship.
She explores global interconnectedness and has discovered a deep affinity with the natural world. She was the first Artist-in-Residence at the Perkins School for the Blind, where she expanded on her theories for making art accessible to populations that perceive it in different ways. She has done residencies in Tangier and at The Farm in Jaipur, and will be an Artist-in-Residence in Costa Rica in late Spring 2026. Her work finds, records, and is inspired by the similarities of all global cultures and she celebrates the differences.
My work is a way to create a desire to understand and participate in life. Being heavily influenced by the element of light, many of my observations are based on Einstein’s four principles of energy, matter, space and time. We should integrate all of our five senses to any experience one might encounter
My work is about beauty, meaning, tension, and relationship
The way of painting belongs to the one who believes
in having the universe in his own hands
and that before his eyes there is nothing but life
and the motivating forces for life.
…Tung Ch’i-ch’ang
When I read Chinese translations I have to accept, on faith, that the message is clear. After reading many translations, one begins to have a sense of what has not been stated or translated. The beauty is between the approximate words. Visual expression is similar. The beauty is not always in the subject, but in the matter; sometimes, both, or two sides of the same coin.
