Michaela The Dreamer
I have been called a dreamer since I learned to tie my shoelaces, before I even knew what dreaming meant.
I was born between two worlds. An Aboriginal and ni-Vanuatu father and a German and English mother, two lineages woven into one life, they gave me more than I’ll ever be able to thank them for. I was adopted at three weeks old into a loving family held together beautifully by my Dutch immigrant father and my Australian/English mother and raised alongside my eight siblings of varying ethnicities.
Displaced in many ways. Found in many more.
My inherent differences were evident from the get go. The journey to discover why I moved, thought, wondered and marvelled in ways unlike my family members that felt like echoes from another place became a catalyst for seeking out my heritage and ancestry. What an eye opener! It was heartbreaking, beautiful, healing and helped me to make sense of me.
My parents nurtured in me a deep love for the arts from the very beginning. Music, literature, history, a quiet renaissance spirit that grew into a lifelong fascination with artistic expression. From my ancestors, I carry a rarer inheritance: they gave me the irreplaceable gift of feeling, knowing and dreaming beyond the visible. Somehow there has always been a gentle knowing that I am a part of the land I walk upon.
Exploring the intersection of my two worlds, to listen where they meet and echo, is a journey I hold as a privilege. Blended - It’s who I am and what I know. It’s the world that shaped me. My story is something that I’ll most likely write about one day, but for now I’ll use my paintbrush and heart to share the beauty of my Australia.
Michaela The Artist
My work explores the beauty and the clash of blending realities that I inhabit. One being under my skin. My DNA. The tug on my heart. The dreaming in my soul. The other is the life that moulded how I live. How I think. The path that was set for me. Both are beautiful. Both are strong. Both have wrestled with the other to make peace. My aim is to help both speak to each other. Hold hands. Embrace. To hopefully create a visual language that honours complexity, hybridity and the many ways identity can be experienced in contemporary Australia.
Through rich colour, movement, texture, and emotion and forever inspired by native flowers, changing light, open landscapes, and the wild beauty of Australia, I paint intuitively, allowing each artwork to tell its own story. I create immersive paintings built using repetition, layering and colour with each mark unique.
Central to my practice is the concept of being blended. Individual petals, leaves, and forms are often composed of multiple colours, creating subtle variations that make every element distinct. This approach reflects my own experience as a mixed-race Indigenous woman and speaks to the reality of many Indigenous Australians today.
Through my work, diversity is not portrayed as fragmentation but as strength with individuality becoming part of a connected and unified whole.
For me, art is about creating a feeling. Warmth, comfort, joy and a sense of belonging. My hope is that my paintings bring life into a space and invite people to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with themselves, their memories, and the natural world around them. There is a softness and nostalgia woven through my work employing both bold and calming palettes that represent the vastness and wildness of our land. Reflecting moments of freedom, connection, and the magic of childhood wonder.
Art is deeply personal yet felt universally. Each piece I create is an extension of my spirit, my heritage, and the stories that continue to shape my journey.
