Michelle has a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Scenography. She is based in London and works from Blackhorse Lane Studios in Walthamstow (Barbican Arts Group Trust). She make sculptures from recycled materials and found objects, which are sometimes mechanical. She runs workshops for festivals, galleries and schools creating sculptures and installations from scrap materials. She also creates props and models for theatre, product launches, events and photo shoots.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work spans the disciplines of sculpture, prop-making, installation and design for performance. I create recycled and mechanical sculptures, wearable art, and objects that interact with performers. My sculptures are usually figurative representations of people, animals or buildings.

The direction of my work has been influenced by environmental concerns such as pollution and overconsumption of resources. The choice to work with reclaimed materials was initially an economic one, as well as an ethical decision to focus on the environmental impact of the materials and processes used. Equally important is the message these choices give to the viewer, drawing attention to environmental issues in an aesthetic, humorous and non-confrontational way. I also create kinetic sculptures with mechanical moving parts, which can be operated by the viewer. The thrill of working with found materials is the unexpected uses they can be put to. For instance, creating a wind turbine out of two old oil cans, or the internal workings of an old clock becoming a mechanism for a propeller.

This methodology has followed through into my scenographic work. Sets, props and costumes have often necessarily been produced on an almost non-existent budget, and therefore have been gathered together from junk shops or from simple, cheap and freely available materials. This has led to my interest in the status and function of the object in performance, which formed the subject of my MA research. My work explores the possibility of interaction between performer and objects, which extends beyond the purely functional. I collaborate with performers to create object-based performance work, and create set and props for theatre and dance. … Read More