About

BIOGRAPHY

Michelle is a graduate of the Queensland College of Art, holding a Bachelor of Visual Art in Fine Arts, and a Master of Arts in Research in interdisciplinary practice from the Queensland University of Technology. As a visual artist she was awarded the QAGOMA’s Melville Haysom Art Scholarship which saw the development of the hybrid video painting and sound installation Billboard Communicative. Xen went on to develop a multidisciplinary practice oscillating between visual art, pop music, and the boundaries of performance. Her body of works sit within a spectrum from the contemporary visual art world, the independent music industry, to a range of hybrid spaces associated with contemporary experimental sound and performance.

Xen’s practice is inherently interdisciplinary, taking elements and experiences across disciplinary lines. Lyrics become video works or a neon sign, an installation appears remixed in a music video, a music video is remixed back inside an installation. Many contemporary artists disseminate and recontextualise the vernacular of pop culture. Xen creates her own pop culture, in the form of electronic pop music and music video, and then deconstructs this within a contemporary art practice creating a kind of feedback loop. Within this process she constructs sets, costumes, lyrics, sound works, song works, and directs and edits videos. Xen’s practice engages the canon of self-portraiture, but recontextualises her own image within performance through popular music culture, then deconstructs this image in a series of installations and contemporary art engagements. She seeks a challenging dialogue within her practice in order to occupy these various disciplinary territories, despite contradictions and perceived contaminations.

She has exhibited with galleries throughout Australia including Metro Arts, QUT Art Museum, Boxcopy, Level, Inbetween Spaces and Frank Moran Gallery. Her public art practice has seen site specific projects developed for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week, the Urban Easels billboards and Kick Off Video Art at Metricon Stadium. She developed the hybrid collaborative project LUMEN BODY with animator Paul Van Opdenbosch, choreographer Elise May and the Expressions Dance Company ensemble of dancers. Her collaborative project LUMEN CLOUD developed installations and lighting for both Brisbane City and the National Museum of Singapore. Xen has developed projects funded by the Australia Council for the Arts, Arts Queensland and Creative Sparks.

CV HIGHLIGHTS

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023 PORTALS, Side Gallery, Brisbane
2018 TRANSLATING EARTH, The Walls Gallery, Miami
2017 BENEVOLENT SYSTEM II, The Walls Gallery, Miami
2017 SHORT TERM PLAN, The Walls Gallery Miami
2016 BENEVOLENT SYSTEM, Frank Moran Memorial Hall
2013 GENEROUS FIELDS | OBJECTS IN THE DARK, Box Copy, Brisbane
2012 CRUSH POP BOX II, The Block, QUT, Brisbane
2011 FISSURES, Level Gallery
2011 CRUSH POP BOX I, H Block Gallery
2010 FISSURE LOOP FISSURE, H Block Gallery
2009 FIELDS AND FOLDS, QUT Art Museum
2007 BILLBOARD COMMUNICATIVE, Metro Arts

SELECTED GROUP EXHBITIONS

2022 BURN, Side Gallery, Red Hill
2020 High Rotation, Museum of Brisbane
2018 Real Talk, EMPATHY EXPANSE, public art installation, Brisbane
2018 The Night Watch, The Walls Gallery, Miami
2012 KICK OFF VIDEO ART, Metricon Stadium
2011 BROADCAST, Level Gallery, Brisbane
2010 EXIST, Brisbane Powerhouse
2010 Inbetween Spaces, Metro Arts
2003 OPTICHIASMA, Metro Arts

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS

2022 Valley Fiesta
2021 BRISBANE FESTIVAL, Artboat
2019 BRISBANE ART DESIGN, Museum of Brisbane
2018 BLEACH* Music Festival
2017 Institute of Modern Art, SKIRT, performance
2017 Jungle Love Festival, Headline performance
2016 Revel, QAGOMA
2016 Woodford Folk Festival
2016 Lumen Body, collaboration with Expressions Dance Company, Brisbane Powerhouse, Gasworks Gasometer, Riverside Quay Southbank
2016 Jungle Love Festival
2015 CMJ Music Marathon, New York, Official Showcase Artist
2015 Music Matters, Singapore, Official Showcase Artist
2014 Spring Flare, Riverstage
2014 Brisbane Fringe Festival
2010 MONA FOMA, Hobart

SELECTED COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS

2018 One Million Stars, Lumen.cloud, Festival 2018 public art installation
2016 Lumen.cloud, Wings of a Rich Manouevre, Suzann Victor, National Gallery of Singapore
2015 Triangulate, Meagan Streader, Melbourne Spring Fashion Week
2012 Bundanon Trust–Last Word, Performance sound collaboration with Robyn Backen
2011 Bundanon Trust – Last Word, Performance sound collaboration with Robyn Backen

RESIDENCE PROGRAMS

2017 The Walls Artist in Residence, The Walls Gallery, Miami
2017 Gateways Artist Mentorship, GCCC
2016 Alumni Residency, Queensland University of Technology
2013 Sound Catalyst, The Edge, State Library of Queensland
2012 Bundanon Trust, Bundanon
2011 Bundanon Trust, Bundanon
2004 Melville Haysom Scholar, QAGOMA