I am a Brazilian and American Worcester-based artist, writer, and educator working under the name Michelle de Celia Lucia e Genevieve (aka Koza). My art practice spans performance, poetry, and visual art, examining power, identity, and femininity. I am a co-founder of the Council of Radiants Artist Collective and serve on the board of the Worcester Artist Group. My visual and mixed-media work has been exhibited widely in Worcester-area galleries, including Arts Worcester, Hunchback Gallery, and JMAC. I am a recipient of the Assets for Artists Capacity-Building Grant (2025) and a NEFA Professional Development Grant (2026). I am also the 2026 Worcester County Poetry Association (WCPA) Dan Lewis Fellow, and winner of a Worcester Arts Council (WAC) project grant (2026).
My work uses mixed-media assemblage and embroidery to explore femininity, ritual, and liberation through craft-based processes and ornamental excess. I incorporate materials such as toys, fake flowers, rhinestones, washi tape, handmade paper, and fabric to create exuberant, decadent compositions that collapse the sacred and the everyday. Influenced by Brazilian visual culture and Catholic iconography, I employ radial forms, mirrors, and fragmentation to honor joy, suffering, and repair. Across series and scale, my work invites viewers to see themselves reflected in beauty, resilience, and what I call Joyful Liberation.
Alongside my artistic practice, I have an extensive career in education. I have taught English and creative writing for over fifteen years and served as English Department Chair and Director of the Young Writers Conference at The Bancroft School.