Michael Armstrong

Mixed Media

Maker Member

Michael Armstrong (b. 1976) is a Canberra-based figurative artist, painter, and art photographer whose practice probes the human condition through form, story, and presence. His art is informed by his 23-year career in the Australian Defence Force, including service in Afghanistan, which seeded a lifelong exploration of love, trauma, sacrifice, and resilience. Armstrong studied Fine Arts at the University of Ballarat and later completed a Master of Arts in Creative Arts at the University of Southern Queensland. His acclaimed Voices of Veterans (2021) series amplified the voices of veterans living with PTSD and continues as a national arts-and-health initiative. A finalist in the Manning, Napier Waller, and Tom Bass Figurative Art Prizes, Armstrong’s work has earned recognition for its blend of technical rigour and social conscience. Working from his Lyneham studio, he is currently creating a bronze sculpture series, A Woman Must…, alongside ongoing research into robotics, AI, and art.

"My current series, A Woman Must…, began not with clay but with conversation. I sat with women I admire: mothers, professionals, models, friends. I listened as they described the demands placed upon them: be soft, be strong, be silent, speak up, nurture perfectly, lead ruthlessly. From these exchanges, forms emerged that carry not one moment but many epochs of becoming. Working exclusively from life over extended sittings, I aim to capture the instant when the mask slips, when a body reveals its lived choreography of burden and defiance. These bronzes are not idealisations but accumulations: scar tissue, hormonal tides, laughter lines, triumphs and griefs. Hand-applied pigments settle in creases like memory embedded in bone. As a male sculptor, I cannot bear these contradictions myself; instead, I allow my sitters’ stories to unsettle my assumptions. The resulting sculptures hold their voices; phenomenal women proclaiming presence, vulnerability, and unapologetic strength in solid form."

Online Resources:

Website: https://michaelarmstrong.com.au/

Instagram: @m1kearmstrong

Facebook: @m1kearmstrong

X: @Michael68849526

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-armstrong-8b2570230/

cover image: Michael Armstrong, Observers of Being, 2021. Image courtesy of the artist
top image: Michael Armstrong, Vessel (Benne), 2025. Image courtesy of the artist