Michelle Mildenhall is an artist who creates unique and empowering portraits in latex. Through her stylized imagery, Michelle seduces the viewer into a world of disconcerting beauty and mystique. By using popular but somewhat taboo themes of sexuality, fetishism and subversion, she creates work in which a fascination with the subject evolves.
Each portrait is meticulously constructed using sheet latex. The exact proportions of cut latex shapes are layered to create instantly recognisable portraits with a nod to pop art.
Her latex art works are visually arresting and radiate an underlying element of sexual association, not just from the imagery, but also because of the connotations of the medium in which she creates her art. Each piece becomes defined and fetishized via its latex conceptualization. When worn latex compliments and reveals the female figure whereas Michelle’s work, often depicting females, reveals them in less obvious ways to provoke a more evolved idea of sexuality.
The current series of portraits is a culmination of her exploration of the medium. Her work has developed around the limitations and nature of the material and every piece is made by hand and meticulously constructed by Michelle.
Michelle is a UK based latex portrait artist. Her work is highly individual, she explores fetish subcultures, drawing influences from a broad range of sexual fetishes including rubber fetishism, BDSM and sexual objectification.
Each portrait is meticulously constructed using sheet latex and the artist has literally carved a unique niche with her work, which not only appeals to art lovers but to rubber fetishists too. The exact proportions of cut latex shapes are layered to create instantly recognisable portraits with a nod to pop art.
She studied textiles at Art College, this is where she first experimented with latex as a medium for her art. After finishing university she moved to London where she worked for 12 years as a commercial graphic artist. It was only when she started visiting fetish clubs like Torture Garden and Rubber Ball and started making her own latex clothing that she had the idea of combinding the two together, using latex to create something truly unique in the art world. “The idea came in a flash of inspiration while I was working on a latex outfit for myself”
Her influences include Robert Mapplethorpe, Amleto Dalla Costa, Aubrey Beardsley and Cornelius Makkink to name a few, but she finds inspiration from everywhere, from Torture Garden to Typography! Michelle continues ”My current series of portraits are a culmination of my study of the medium and my experiences as a latex fetishist. My work has developed around the limitations and nature of the material resulting in a very distinctive use of positive/negative space and colour, each piece becoming defined and fetishized via its latex conceptualization”
Michelle feels empowered to be a female artist within the art community.The gender imbalance makes her even more determined to create physically powerful, confronting work that demands to get noticed and the recognition it deserves. She has sold pieces worldwide and is gaining widespread attention for her work, exhibiting in many prestigious galleries including the Saatchi Gallery, London; La Luz De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, Sin City Gallery in Las Vegas and she has been photographed by the renowned photographer Rankin for his “THE UNSEEN” exhibition in London. Her work has been featured on several television programs and in the press and her bestselling piece QE2, made the front cover of Skin Two, an internationally distributed magazine.
