Michelle Driver is an artist and handweaver based in Adelaide, South Australia.

Using the ancient medium of tapestry, Driver depicts unconventional subject matter that often seems incongruous with the artform’s historically conservative applications. The textural nature of each work lends depth and complexity to scenes of gothic subculture, medical imagery and the occult, creating pieces that simultaneously intrigue and discomfit the viewer. This conflict is sustained through black and greyscale palettes punctuated with bursts of rich – sometimes jarring – colour.

Exploring issues of social conformity and the fine line between help and harm, Driver seeks to address confronting topics in ways that invite quiet contemplation while evoking a sense of creeping unease.

Recipient of the 2016 Port Pirie Art Prize and a 2018 Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize finalist (highly commended), Driver’s distinctive visual language makes her work both instantly recognisable and difficult to classify.