Michael Roopenian has always struggled to write "about me" sections.
Maybe it's because he usually finds himself in the gray areas between titles or labels, having trouble defining himself as one. But more likely it’s due to the general feeling of ridiculousness that he experiences while writing about himself in the third person.
Michael was raised in Bar Harbor, a small town on an island off the coast of Maine, and this setting provided a unique experience that has always affected his perspective. He spent his childhood hiking, swimming and fly-fishing in Acadia National Park, and while he always loved to draw, first began metal and woodworking in his teens.
After traveling throughout South America during a brief hiatus from academia, Michael finally settled down and received his bachelor's degree in sculpture from Kenyon College, where he found himself gravitating towards works that involved function and skillful craftsmanship.
After college he continued producing artwork and design in a variety of capacities, highlighted by a commission and artist residency in 2006/7 at New England BioLabs in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, he interned with the interior design firm Duffy Design Group in Boston, and apprenticed with numerous artists from Boston to New York.
Discovering that his interests in art, engineering and people converged within the field of industrial design, Michael moved to Brooklyn to pursue his masters of design at the Pratt Institute, and will complete his degree in May of 2010.