The Artist’s profile
Michaela is a Melbourne-based artist working across sculpture, wearable art, and performance, with a background in dance and somatics influencing her process. She holds a PhD in Art from RMIT University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) from the same institution. Her work explores the embodied relationship between humans and the natural world, investigating how materials transform and evoke sensory experiences. Using techniques like electroforming, she creates evocative metal-textile blends and works with materials like bronze, glass, and ceramics. Michaela’s practice highlights the alchemy of becoming, focusing on the liminal spaces where transformation occurs and the intimate connections between materials, environment, and the self.
Her work has been exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions in Melbourne, and her pieces are featured in several notable collections.
The triggers to become an artist
I don’t remember ever deciding to become an artist. From my earliest memories, it was something I felt drawn to, like the gravity of the earth. My father, an architect, was an artist in my eyes, and he introduced me to art through discussions and gallery visits. I loved drawing and dancing, and dance became my focus for many years. Eventually, I felt a need to work with materials, to create something that existed beyond my own movements. I studied visual arts, specializing in gold and silversmithing, and later pursued a PhD. My dance practice continues to influence my visual art, where I work with energy, sensation, and texture. I make art to process feelings and thoughts, but also to learn about the world through the unique lens that art provides, engaging the body, materials, and intuition.
I loved drawing and dancing, and dance became my focus for many years. Eventually, I felt a need to work with materials, to create something that existed beyond my own movements.
Michaela Pegum
Environmental Concern
The artist is always conscious of the materials brought into her processes, treating them as precious. She treasures the metals she works with, using recycled metals whenever possible. Any leftover materials that cannot be reused are responsibly taken to recycling centres or given to organizations that sustainably process them to avoid environmental harm.
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Michaela Pegum, from Melbourne, Australia.
Education & Activities
PhD Art, RMIT University
Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours), RMIT University
Diploma of Theatre Arts, Victoria University
Bachelor of Design (Honours), Visual Communication, University of Technology Sydney
A selection of my exhibitions and group exhibitions are; 2024 All is Intimate, @14 Gallery, Collingwood, AUS /2024 Fort Earth, 45 Downstairs, Melbourne, AUS / 2023 Pieces of Tomorrow, Pieces of Eight Gallery, Melbourne, AUS / 2022 Subtle Bodies: transcorporeal becoming in threshold realms, Meatmarket, Melbourne, AUS / 2022 Victorian Craft Awards, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, AUS / 2021 Far from Here, Schoolhouse Gallery, Rosny Farm Arts Centre, Hobart, AUS / 2020 Surface Level, INTRO by Marzee, Amsterdam, Netherlands / 2019 Victorian Craft Awards, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, AUS / 2019 Profile ’19 Award Exhibition, Australian Design Centre, Sydney, AUS / 2019 Earthbound, lightbound, Radiant Pavilion, Rubicon ARI, Melbourne, AUS / 2019 The Worn Debris Collective, Radiant Pavilion, Testing Grounds, Melbourne, AUS / 2019 MasterMakers, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, AUS / 2019 Schmuck, Internationale Handwerkmesse, Munich, Germany / 2018 National Contemporary Jewellery Award, Griffith Regional Art gallery, NSW, AUS / 2018 Frame at Schmuck, Galerie Marzee, Munich, Germany / 2018 Vanguard, NGV Design Week, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, AUS / 2017 Itami International Jewellery Exhibition, Japan / 2017 Jewellery – the best young international jewellery designers selected by Marzee, Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen / 2017 Marzee International Graduate Show, Galerie Marzee, Netherlands / 2017 Close to Here, Radiant Pavilion Festival, Stephen McGlaughlin Gallery, Melbourne, AUS / 2017 Contemporary Wearables ’17 Biennial Jewellery Award & Exhibition, Toowoomba Regional Gallery, QLD, AUS / 2017 Victorian Craft Awards, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, AUS / 2017 Fresh!, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, AUS / 2017 Meshes, Pieces of Eight Gallery, Melbourne, AUS / 2015 Half-light, Black Finch, Melbourne, AUS
Awards
2022 Victorian Craft Awards, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, AUS – Finalist
2019 Diana Morgan Post-graduate Award, RMIT, Melbourne, AUS – Winner
2019 Victorian Craft Awards, Craft Victoria, Melbourne, AUS – Finalist
2019 Profile ’19 Award Exhibition, Australian Design Centre, Sydney, AUS – Finalist
2019 Schmuck, Internationale Handwerkmesse, Munich, Germany – Finalist
2018 National Contemporary Jewellery Award, AUS – Winner
2017 Itami International Jewellery Exhibition, Japan – Finalist
2017 Graduate Metal XV, Radiant Pavilion Festival, AUS – Finalist
2017 Marzee International Graduate Show, Netherlands – Finalist
2017 Contemporary Wearables ’17 Biennial Jewellery Award & Exhibition, AUS – Student prize winner
2017 Victorian Craft Award, AUS – Lynne Kosky Jewellery Encouragement Award winner
2017 Craft Fresh! Graduate Showcase, AUS – Pieces of Eight Gallery Award winner
2016 Emily Hope Figurative Award, RMIT University – Winner
2016 Vice-Chancellor’s List Award for academic excellence, RMIT University
2015 Koodak Top Student Award for Third Year, Gold and Silversmithing, RMIT University
2015 Vice-Chancellor’s List Award for academic excellence, RMIT Universit
Acquisitions
W.E McMillan Collection, RMIT University, Melbourne, AUS
Griffith Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales, AU
Toowoomba Regional Gallery, Queensland, AUS
