Michelle Dash

About Me

I live near Chipping Sodbury, South Gloucestershire, where I also have my studio.

I make two and three dimensional work in a variety of media, which has  a strong figurative and narrative element, often evoking mystery, the uncanny, and a dose of dark humour.

In 1986 I gained a BA(hons) from Exeter College of Art and Design. At that time I worked mainly in ceramics, producing large sculptural installations and reliefs inspired by Gothic architecture and the Early Medieval carvings I discovered in Exeter Cathedral.

After my degree, initially for practical reasons, I switched to painting. Not being content to limit myself to a single medium, my paintings often became mixed media pieces, with other materials and objects incorporated into them. 

I still love the aesthetic of medieval religious art and it continues to influence my work. I am also drawn to the visual and dramatic potential of myths and fairy tales with their magical beings, hybrid creatures and stories of transformation, and to the uncanny logic of dreams.

I'm also fascinated by the way certain ordinary human-made objects can be imbued with atmosphere and mystery...perhaps haunted. This means I get very excited by finding, for example, an old cast iron stop-cock cover, some antique castors or wooden barley-twist table legs. In my imagination they are already undergoing a transformation. I’m now lucky enough to have space to indulge my magpie instincts for collecting the various discarded objects which ‘speak’ to me (or haunt me...) and which at some point will inspire and perhaps be incorporated into a new piece of work.

In 2001 I graduated from The University of the West of England with a PGDip in Art Therapy.  From then until December 2016, I combined my art practice with working as an art therapist in the NHS and voluntary sector. This experience had a significant influence on how I developed as an artist. It taught me the value of spontaneous mark-making; allowing images and motifs to arise from unconscious or semi-conscious influences. So now my starting point is often doodling, cutting up and rearranging old bits of painting then playing around with images and other objects, to produce unexpected relationships. Eventually I reach a point where something catches my attention. What's before me feels potent, has resonance. I often start laughing at this point and that's always a good sign! This spontaneous beginning is then developed and combined with my desire to craft a well made and aesthetically satisfying object.

Although I no longer practice as an art therapist, the experience has given me a strong belief in the transformative potential of art making. From time to time I run classes and workshops which have an emphasis on experimenting and exploring in a relaxed, non judgmental atmosphere.

I have exhibited my work regularly in group and solo shows in Bristol and Bath and North Somerset

Michelle Dash

2021