Artist Biography.

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Born 10 January 1965, Pretoria, South Africa
Matriculated 1982, Afrikaans Girls’ High School, Pretoria, South Africa
Qualifications: Certificate in Tourism, Technicon, Pretoria, South Africa

BA (Fine Arts), University of Pretoria, 1987
BA Hons (History of Art), University of Pretoria 1992
MA (Fine Arts,) University of Pretoria 1993
Michèle attracted nationwide interest in 1994 when the Rupert Art Foundation bought all of the available work on her first Solo Exhibition, including her Master’s degree installation ‘Kleursimfonie’, an extraordinary piece consisting of 300 A4 sized paintings. The installation is currently in the permanent collection of the Rupert Museum in Stellenbosch and is exhibited
every few years. This once in a lifetime event launched her career as a professional artist.

Michèle’s career has included:
 22 solo exhibitions, more than200 group exhibitions, Art Festivals
 International Projects including Ukkasie 2000, the Florence Biennial, Italy 2005, Chianciano
Biennial, Italy 2009 and, by invitation, the London Biennial 2013, residency at the Cite des Arts 2017
 Lectures and workshops
 Commissions for corporates,
 Documentary installations
 Audio and Visual stage productions
 Animation films for Filmverse I & 2

Since 2004, Michèle has been living and working in Rosendal in the Eastern Free State where her work is
on permanent display at Ark.Contemporary Gallery. She also has a presence in several other galleries in
Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Michèle believes that art is a medium for the elevation of the spirit yet remains rooted in the
experience of everyday life. Her aim is not to copy nature, but to translate the essential character of
things, and suggesting a new way of interpreting the everyday. Her approach is based on visual
sensations, and mark making is the most fundamental element in her art - a scratch of charcoal, a line
of ink, a splash of colour, is how she expresses emotion, movement, the essence of her theme. She
plays with different mediums, draws with different objects. The outcome is never predictable, and the
theme is always just a starting point to highlight the extraordinary in the ordinary.

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