Michelle Hamer Michelle Hamer

Michelle Hamer’s hand-stitched and drawn works force us to confront the language of our fears, beliefs & aspirations. Based on her own digital photographs, taken in an instant, these slow works are dark and ironic in how familiar they are. They honour the language of the street while questioning its connection to our psyches and contemporary edicts.

Hamer’s work literally connects to a unique moment in time yet as the world changes the works take on new meaning and speak to us in new ways. The messages and scenes captured are pointed and personal. They are the moment, sign, scratch of graffiti that hits us directly - irreverently encapsulating life and memorialising an everyday instance while allowing us the time and space to be present, reflect and then laugh at what life presents us.

Since 2005 Hamer has been awarded grants from the Australia Council (9), Creative Victoria (3) and City of Melbourne (3); had thirty solo exhibitions and partaken in numerous group and prize finalist shows. Her work features in 'She Persists' (2020) NGV, Melbourne; MoCa London director Michael Petry’s ‘The Word is Art’ (2018); Stephen Banham’s book ‘Characters’ (2011) exploring a history of signage in Melbourne; Luke Feireiss’ ‘Imagine Architecture’ and Barry & Jobson’s ‘The Craft Companion’. In 2022 Hamer's video work won a Fishersghost Art Award and she represented Australia in the Lodz Tapestry Triennial and the Contextil Biennial, Portugal.

Michelle Hamer has works in permanent collections of the National Gallery of Victoria, City of Melbourne; Artbank; Gippsland Art Gallery; Warrnambool Art Gallery and private collections in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Berlin, Copenhagen and Auckland. Previous residencies include Millay Colony of the Arts, New York; Australian Tapestry Workshop & Fintona Girls’ School with an upcoming one at Poland Artist Residency.

Curriculum Vitae

Born Melbourne, Australia

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Architecture, RMIT (hons)

AWARDS RECEIVED

2025

I'm A Believer, Griffith Regional Art Gallery (upcoming)

2024

I'm A Believer, Linden New Art

2023

Australia Council - Residency: Poland Art Residency
Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize

2022

Finalist - 15 Artists, Redcliffe Invitational Art Prize
Winner - Fishersghost Art Prize - Macabily Prize

2021

Australia Council - Creation new work
Creative Victoria - Creation New Work

2020

Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize
Australia Council - COVID 19 - Creation new work
Creative Victoria - COVID 19 - Creation new work
City of Melbourne - COVID 19 - Creation new work
Nillumbik Art Gallery - COVID 19 Commission

2019

Finalist Fishers Ghost Art Prize
Finalist Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Award
Finalist Ravenswood Women's Art Prize
Finalist Wyndham Art Prize

2018

Residency Millay Colony for the Arts, New York, USA

2017

Australia Council – Exhibition

2016

Australia Council – Creation (new works)

2015

Winner – Architecture in Tapestry Prize, Aust. Tapestry Workshop (w.KGA Architecture)
Finalist Darebin Art Prize
Finalist Whyalla Art Prize
Finalist Banyule Art Prize
Finalist Hobart Art Prize
Finalist Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award
Australia Council – Skills & Development (international boundary territories)
Residency – Fintona Girls’ School, Melbourne

2014

Australia Council – Exhibition
Residency - Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne

2013

Finalist Times Square Transformation, public art barriers, NY, NY, USA
Finalist Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast, Queensland
Finalist Fishersghost Art Award, Campbelltown, NSW
Finalist Hobart Art Prize, Hobart, Tasmania
Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra. Queensland

2012

Finalist Gold Coast Art Prize, Gold Coast, Queensland
Finalist Hobart Art Prize, Hobart, Tasmania
Finalist Alice Art Prize, Alice Springs, Northern Territory

2011

Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra. Queensland
Australia Council – Skills & Development (USA)

2010

City of Melbourne – Presentation – 2011
Finalist Reservoir Neighbourhood House – Public Art

2009

Darebin LaTrobe Art Prize - Finalist

2008

City of Melbourne – Presentation – New Works
Toyota Community Spirit Encouragement Award
Arts Victoria - Creation – New Works
City of Melbourne – 2009 Exhibition at Fortyfivedownstairs
Finalist New Social Commentary Art Prize, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Victoria
Finalist Sunshine Coast Art Prize, Caloundra. Queensland
Finalist Alice Prize Exhibition, Alice Springs. Northern Territory

2007

Finalist for Round 2 of RIPE Art & Australia /ANZ Private Bank Cont. Art Award

2006

Australia Council - Emerging Artist –New Works

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024

I'm a Believer (upcoming x 2)

2022

Wheel of Fortune, Federation Square Screen (Feb ->)
Relax We're Doing Great, MARS Gallery

2021

Are You Having a Good Night?, Noosa Regional Art Gallery, QLD
Love has All Barriers, Artisan Gallery QLD
Are You Having a Good Night?, Logan Art Gallery, QLD
Are You Having a Good Night?, The Schoolhouse Gallery, Tas

2020

Are You Having a Good Night?, Fremantle Arts Centre, WA
2020 is Cancelled, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Vic (until Feb 2021)
Nothing is Promised, Stockroom Gallery, Kyneton, Vic

I'll Show You the Way, Richmond TownHall

2018

I am Part of a LIVING City, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, NSW (Survey Show)

2017

One Wall Two Jails, NSW Institute of Architects

2016

There are no words, SwanHill Regional Art Gallery
There are no words, The Lost Ones Gallery, Ballarat
You are my past, I am your future, Nicholas Projects, Melbourne

2015

There are no words, Ararat Regional Art Gallery
This is what it isn’t meant to be, Fehily Contemporary

2014

There Are No Words, public programs NGV (w. Cat Wilson)
Cultural Threads, City of Greater Dandenong, Australia (w. Cat Wilson)
I’ll show you the way, Galleria Vicino, Sydney

2013

Preview, Fehily Contemporary
I send mixed messages, Counihan Gallery

2011

Dangling Carrots, Craft Victoria, Melbourne [projections by Cat Wilson]

2010

Hillard St – House installation together with Studiobird

2009

Warning if you are reading this, this warning is for you, Centre for Contemporary Art South Australia, Adelaide
Tramspotting, Fortyfivedownstairs, Melbourne [sound – Melanie Chilianis]

2008

Warning if you are reading this, this warning is for you, Kings ARI, Melbourne
Tracking the Storm, The Untitled Gallery, Melbourne
Recent Works, Ochre Gallery, Melbourne

2007

I Get Good Advice from the Advertising World’, SIAL exhibition space, RMIT University, Melbourne (sound –Josh Abrahams)
I Get Good Advice from the Advertising World’, Seventh Gallery, Melbourne (sound collaboration –Josh Abrahams)

2006

The Young & the Restless, Craft Victoria, Melbourne

2005

Life in the Fast Lane, Platform2 Artists Group, Melbourne

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023

[notfair] 2023, Melbourne
Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide
Metro Tunnel Project - The Making of Metro Tunnel, Domain House Melbourne
Creativity in the Time of Covid -19 - Art as a tool for combating inequity and injustice, Michigan State University with the Mellon Foundation, USA

2022

Contextile Biennial, Guimaraes, Portugal
Lodz Tapestry Triennial, Poland
DIGITAL, Sandbox Studio Gallery, Melbourne

2021

Art In The Time of Covid 19, Monsalvat, Nillumbik Art Gallery
The COVID Art Quilt - Kate Just - The National, Museum Contemporary Art, Sydney
Phuong Ngo 'Racist Paintings' collaboration, Asia Pacific Triennial 10, QAGOMA
Black & Gold, Warrnambool Art Gallery
Fresh Perspectives, Perc Tucker Gallery, Townsville

2020

Skilled Hands Shared Culture, RMIT University & Vietnam Festival of Creativity & Design (VFCD)
Craftivism: Dissident Objects & Subversive Forms - Bega Valley Regional Gallery; Warwick Art Gallery; Sunshine Coast University Art Gallery
Mixtape, Stockroom Gallery, Kyneton, Vic

2019

Craftivism: Dissident Objects & Subversive Forms - Warrnambool Art Gallery; Mornington Peninsula Gallery; Museum of Democracy, Canberra.

2018

Craftivism: Dissident Objects & Subversive Forms- Shepparton Art Museum, Victoria
Analogue Art in a Digital World, Sam Leach & Tony Lloyd, RMIT Gallery
This Wild Song Exhibition, TownHall Gallery, Melbourne
Claiming Needles, Peer to Space (online)
Herbaceous Borders, curated by Kate Mizrahi, NKN Gallery, Melbourne
This Wild Song Exhibition, Australian High Commission, Singapore

2017

Media Hype, C3 Gallery, Melbourne (curator- Juliette Hansen)

2016

The Ordinary Instant, Bayside Art Gallery
NOW 16, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne

2015

Fertile Ground, Australian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne
NOW, Fehily Contemporary, Melbourne

2014

Recent Acquisitions, Ararat Regional Gallery, Victoria
Aesop, Collins Street, Melbourne Victoria (Melb Art Fair installation)
Art14, London Contemporary Artfair, UK

2013

Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, Victoria, Australia
Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Fehily Contemporary
Push/Pull, Artisan, Brisbane
Home: Reframing craft and domesticity, Hatch Contemporary Arts Space, Victoria

2012

Anti-Hate – Human Rights Week couch project, Multicultural Arts Vic & Signal
Times Square Billboard, cnr 43rd & Broadway NY, NY. USA
Suburbia, Wyndham Art Gallery, Werribee, Victoria
Solastalgia, Object Gallery, Sydney & Lake Macquarie Regional Gallery (on behalf of Object Gallery, Sydney, NSW)

2011

Boundary Lines, TarraWarra Museum of Art, Healesville. Victoria
20 in 11, Woodward Gallery, NY, NY
You are here, Stockroom, Kyenton, Victoria

2011-2013

Sensorial Loop:Tamworth Textile Triennial, Tamworth Regional Gallery.
Traveling to RMIT Gallery, Goulbourn Regional Gallery, Manning Regional Art Gallery, Albury Regional Gallery, Broken Hill Regional Gallery, Stanthorp Regional Gallery, Manly Regional Art Gallery

2010

Crafty, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, NSW (Cash Brown - curator)
Show us your politics! Kudos Gallery, COFA, NSW
Linden Postcard Show, Linden Gallery
Days of our Lives, BUS Gallery, Melbourne [Melanie Chilianis sound exh]

2009

Fifteen – Charity auction & calendar, Temple Beth Israel, Melbourne
A2Z Textihibition, Kaleide Theatre, RMIT, Melbourne
2008Landscape, Flinders Street Gallery, Surry Hills, Sydney. NSW
Alice Prize Exhibition, Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Toyota Community Spirit –emerging artist exhibition, Port Melbourne

2007

Echo: Sounding out contemporary photography, Deloitte Consulting, Melbourne (Naomi Cass & Rebecca Chew (Centre for Contemporary Photography) -curator)
Lenko Art Show, Carlton Hotel, Bourke St, Melbourne
30 x 30, Brunswick Street Art Gallery, Melbourne
Posted, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Melbourne (Louise Harper -curator) [to travel to London and New York]
Off the Wall –ART Melbourne 2007, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne
Side Stitch, Melbourne Fashion Festival Exhibition, Blindside Gallery, Nicholas Building, Flinders Lane, Melbourne. (Olivia Poloni –curator)
Urban Fabric: Greige, Melbourne Fashion Festival Exhibition, West Space, Anthony Street, Melbourne. (Peta Carlin –curator)

2006

Le Grand Voyage soirée, Independent Accessory Designer Event, Gallery M, Sth. Melbourne
Motor Show Mk2, Yarra Sculpture Gallery, Melbourne (Fringe Festival) (Jason Waterhouse –curator)
The Tea Party, Independent Accessory Designer Exhibition, Gallery M, South Melb

1999

RMIT Major Project Exhibition, Span Gallery, Melbourne

COLLECTIONS

National Gallery of Victoria; Artbank, Australia; City of Melbourne; Warrnambool Art Gallery; Gippsland Art Gallery; Ararat Regional Gallery
Private collections: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Beijing, Berlin, Oslo, London, Auckland