Michelle Mildenhall

Michelle Mildenhall is a UK artist creating provocative art that combines stylized imagery with her passion for latex in an exciting and innovative way. Michelle’s work is unique, with each artwork being meticulously constructed using sheet latex, a material that she has spent years working with.

Michelle Mildenhall was born in Wiltshire and studied textiles and surface pattern at Somerset College of Arts and Technology. This is where she first experimented with latex as a new medium. After finishing her degree, she moved to London where she worked for 12 years as a commercial graphic artist. It was during this time that she had the idea of using latex to create something unique in the art world, “The idea came in a flash of inspiration while I was working on a latex outfit for myself. Visually, it’s such a beautiful material it really deserves to be looked at and admired.”

Her influences include Pop Art, Bauhaus, Aubrey Beardsley, Cornelius Makkink, Andy Warhol, Piet Mondrian and Atsuko Kudo, to name a few! Mildenhall claims that she really finds inspiration from everywhere, from “Torture Garden to Typography… My portraits come from analyzing the subjects and stripping them down in a minimalist style whilst retaining their character. I also like to inject humour into some of my work.”

Mildenhall has carved a unique niche with her art which not only appeals to art lovers but to a new audience of latex lovers. She is boldly bringing the new artistic material firmly out of the fashion/fetish industry and into art and design spheres.