82. Michelle Conway - Light II

2026
Oil on canvas on board
17 x 17 x 1 cm

Michelle Conway (b. 1968, Troy) is an artist based in Ireland whose practice distils memory, place and lived experience into pared-back visual forms. Working through repetition as both meditation and method, Conway uses ritual as a central structure within her studio practice — establishing systems of order, boundaries and return. Her work repeatedly circles back to the coordinates of upstate New York, uncovering traces left behind to understand what is needed to move forward.

Through processes of accumulation and repetition, Conway’s paintings and drawings explore ancestry, displacement and emotional inheritance. Her practice is rooted in acts of searching and retrieval, where personal memory intersects with broader ideas of geography, belonging and transmission across generations.

Conway completed an MFA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London in 2014 and received a BA in Fine Art with First Class Honours from Atlantic Technological University in 2011.

Recent exhibitions include 598 Series at Molesworth Gallery (solo, 2026); Not Just Me at Andelli Art (2026); ArtEvolve Art Fair in Dublin; the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and Royal Academy Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts; and Art on a Postcard auctions in 2021, 2024 and 2025.

Earlier exhibitions include 42.7284º N, 73.6918ºW (home) at Portershed Innovation Hub (solo, 2017–2018); Art-Letter Home with the China Academy of Art, touring museums across China; The Drawing Room at Sid Motion Gallery; the Sluice Biennial in London; A Long Way Home at Bolee Gallery; The Human Stain at Studio1.1; and City Stories at Mission Gallery.

In 2016, Conway won the Exeter Contemporary Open Audience Choice Award, and in 2011 she received the Paint Student of the Year award.