Michael Hawkins
Michael Hawkins is a New Zealand Artist and Printmaker who works from his studio in Melbourne. He was a finalist and Merit Award Recipient in the Parkin Drawing Prize (2020)
Michael’s practice currently splits into two specific areas, limited edition works and original paintings. Both strains are interested in how meaning can be generated from the visual interaction that takes place between the familiar and the unknown. Whether through common-place motifs such as a snake or a lump of wood or through more ambiguous imagery creation.
The Wild Things/Light and Sinister Series are two related ‘bodies of work’. Both evoke childhood wonder and teenage nostalgia as starting points. They derive inspiration from a variety of sources, including the book ‘Where the Wild Things are’, experiences of Camping and Ghost stories. These works playfully evoke the notion that the Australian landscape is hostile, working with the idea that it is scary when things can kill you and your imagination can run wild. Whilst they appear light and bright initially, something more sinister, yet tongue-in-cheek undercuts the series. There is a juxtaposition between the malevolent and the naïve and nostalgic that is aimed to reveal itself through repeated viewing.
