Filipe Miguel immigrated to the United States at a young age. His love for incorporating textiles and masonry materials into his artwork is directly inspired by his Portuguese parents who worked in factory assembly lines, and construction companies.

Miguel often creates immersive art installations that are imaginary, yet also have personal connections to social and cultural anthropology. In one of his installations called,” The Throne of Likes”, Filipe constructed and assembled a giant throne adorned with Iconic “Likes” symbols from social media. In this work, Miguel invited his audience to sit on the Throne of Likes, take a selfie, and share it, examining our infatuation with being liked in the ether of social media.

Filipe has strong ties to the New Bedford art community. He was a graduate of UMass Dartmouth, College of Visual and Performing Arts and earned an MFA from the University of Connecticut. He is currently at Hatch Street Art Studios, located at 88 Hatch Street in New Bedford.

Miguel’s latest works explore what it’s like to be an educator in the ever-evolving school landscape. In these new works, he uses familiar doodles like the cool “S” and iconography found in schools to express today’s emotional and social challenges. Filipe is an art teacher at Barnstable High School in Hyannis MA.