Michelle Cawthorn is a Dharawal/Sydney based artist who invokes personal and collective memory through her distinctive visual language of repetitive mark making. In her work she examines the way meaning is constructed and expressed via an autoethnographic approach that explores themes related to childhood, identity, and place. Though grounded in drawing, her work intersects with collage, painting, sculpture, and installation and she places emphasis on the role of intuition in studio-based practice, resulting in works that meld figuration and abstraction.
Cawthorn has presented solo exhibitions in Sydney since 2012 and her work has been included in group exhibitions in public galleries and museums throughout Australia. She has twice won the Hazelhurst Art on Paper, Local Artist Award (2017, 2013) and was a finalist in the Sulman Prize at the Art Gallery of NSW in 2017 as well as many other national prizes throughout her career. Her work has been reviewed and profiled in national publications including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Art Life, ArtsHub, ARTAND, and Artist Profile magazine.
Cawthorn has received grants from NAVA and Create NSW, and postgraduate research scholarships, including an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). In 2018 she was awarded a Bundanon Fellowship to undertake a residency at Bundanon. Cawthorn trained at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW where she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) and later a Master of Fine Arts. In 2021 she was awarded her PhD from UNSW. Cawthorn’s work is held in various public collections, including Artbank, Sydney.