"Through my work, I invite viewers to reflect on the complexities of womanhood, often blending rich symbolism and abstraction to tell personal yet universally resonant stories."
Michelle Watson is a figurative painter whose work centres on themes of identity, femininity, and the societal perceptions of ageing and beauty. Deeply influenced by artists such as Freud, Bacon, Saville, and Uldalen, her practice combines classical figuration with contemporary approaches, exploring the emotional and physical realities of womanhood.
Working primarily on raw canvas, she uses delicate ink washes and oil paint to reveal the female form, often marked by the visual traces of time—age spots, thread veins, and scars.
Informed by feminist literature and her own personal experience, including motherhood and life in Asia, ,Michelle's work invites reflection and dialogue around the evolving female body and the lived realities behind it.