Meet Michael Henley | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Henley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking

When thinking about taking risk, I often think of it as a necessary part of being any creative and especially an artist. I think that risk covers a lot of how I work, I risk myself personally and my creative process each time I engage with a new body of work or specific project. I often find myself potentially overreaching and risking not being ready for an exhibition or attempting to create a piece so ambitious and experimental that there is always the chance it wont ‘come off’ right or convey my ideas and process as well as I would like. With that being said the sheer force of taking a risk is a huge driving power behind my practise and current work ethic, I relish in the deadlines and extending myself to make sure I’m ready in time! It’s an aspect of being an artist that causes me to become extremely focused on the task at hand, it helps me organise my thoughts and ideas which also allows me to make the difficult decisions necessary to complete everything to the standards I set myself.
I think risk is also something we learn to adapt to, something that we learn to work with and use as a tool to progress ourselves and our work. I have created some of my best work by taking a risk and pushing myself to create something that I know might not come off, something I have learnt to work with is recognising when an opportunity is with taking the risk, a-lot of times I find myself involved in an exhibition on fairly short notice so to respond to these deadlines with an ambitious new piece or organising shipping & installation can be a risk in itself. Really it comes down to how much I want to create, so far each risk has pushed me into a position where I have (left myself) no choice but to dig deep and create to the best of my ability and I have found that this in tern allows me to create everything thats been developing in my head for so many years & pressure new and unknown ideas along the way.
A recent example of taking a huge risk came in just the last 12 months when I left a full time position at a gallery in London to peruse my artistic career in balance with my freelance career (as an Art Handler/Technician). Being at the tail end of the second major UK lockdown I was very unsure how this would work out. Relying on being able to pay my bills through working as an artist and an art handler was a new concept for me, but I knew that if I didn’t give it everything I had I would regret not pursuing what has always been an ‘end goal’ for me and so far its been an amazing journey. The risk I took has taken me to a point where I’ve had to work longer and harder then I ever have before and I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices along the way but so far this has been a risk worth taking. I think I’ve learnt to use the risk element of my life to enhance my artistic skill and career and in the last year I’ve have already created some pieces that I am most proud of, I’m very excited to see what comes next.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As an artist my practice is very process driven, this is something that I’ve developed over a number of years and I’ve come to think of it as a coupling of that process and the concept, which is itself is an ever-evolving series of ideas and points of interest. At the very core the work is (usually) intricate graphite and ink pieces on tracing paper which then goes on to be presented in either a custom made frame backed with LED lighting (layering the paper to create depth and distortion) or, as of my last exhibition free-hanging as a ‘tree trunk’ or tube with lighting imbedded into the sculpture, this was then coupled with a fully immersive experience including a change in the texture of flooring, real animal remains and specially designed and curated sound. During the process of creating these light based pieces I’m often drawn to a variety or stimulus mostly involving the natural world. And although a tremendous number of my subjects are dead, decayed and mostly in a state of remains these are the images and subjects that fascinate me. In the last body of work for ‘Descended’ these natural elements play a very heavy part in the overall composition and the overall theme, being one of imbalance with the natural world. The reality that while we could be living a life of balance with the world we choose not to and this, ultimately will be humankind’s downfall. So a lot of the pieces I’m creating currently reflect this idea, the viewer my want to take the macabre element or deal primarily with the concept of life and death that is presented as part of the works and while these are all present and valid these are only the surface ideas I consider and build on in the future.
A huge challenge for me has and is still one of justification, I often feel that the work I’m creating or the pieces i want to make have to be justified to myself and the wider world but the truth I’ve found over the last few years is that really i can make whatever i want, i can read, research and reference anything that peaks my interest and following from an early career in illustration and my much more practical second job as an art handler this is an increasingly liberating experience. That being said i do still struggle with the ‘why’ but as time goes on its becoming less of a question and more of another piece to be considered in relation to the wider body of the work.
A challenge for myself and,(i think all artists working today) is when reading about my work or looking at images attached to in interview or online i would urge people to (when possible) come and experience the works in real life, I like many artists suffer from the idea that artwork can be viewed online and this is a real representation of the piece but I would suggest that this is not the case, come along to an opening or an exhibition and stand in-front of a piece and allow it to inform you, check to see if the artist is at the exhibition in person and talk to them. I often expand a great deal more in real life then online, when asked questions regarding the works I will always answer as much as i can and this is not only informative to the viewer but to myself and this in turn all helps to move things forward into new and exciting territories.
Moving forward I’m very excited about my upcoming exhibitions, for me the involve exhibiting with a new gallery (in the US) and installing my largest single piece to date (in the UK) so overall I’m very excited to be bring my works to a much larger audience, to experience these pieces in new contexts and to see how this will inform and the change future works. I’m very keen to continue this avenue of experimentation and discovery, to see how far i can push these ideas and processes, i would encourage anyone who can to see these works in real life i can assure you there’s more to see then can be expressed in an image alone.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m lucky enough to live in one of the best and most interesting cities in the world, London. Here I would have no problem taking anyone to any number of places, from the RA to the Tate museums and on to the hundreds of smaller and equally amazing galleries across the city, the sheer number of talented artists and gallerists working today is amazing. I am and have always been hugely into live music and luckily we would be able to explore the numerous live venues more or left by district. But the true key of London is the fact that it’s seasonal, there’s always something to experience no matter the time of year or weather.
And, finally Soho which is my favourite spot in the whole of london, here you can sample any food, experience any kind of bar/pub as well as all the musical and artists endeavours on offer from across the country, in all the years I have lived in London its always been a place I return to time and time again.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have been extremely fortunate that when I think about that people who have helped me (knowingly or unknowingly) along my ongoing career as an artist the list in my head is very long. For anyone who’s reading this that isn’t mentioned by name you’ll know who you are and how you’ve helped me along the way and continue to do so. My early career, post university was in a gallery in Soho, London this was an extremely eye opening time for me both in a personal and professional way, it lead to a career path adjacent to being an artist I wasn’t expecting and also steered me into my current way of working. Over the years I’ve often thought about this time as a path I began on which has expanded to the road I’m currently walking down. During this time and because of it I’ve had the great fortune to meet and work alongside some amazing artists, curators and just generally amazing people who have been kind enough to work with me on a number of projects over the years, this has allowed me to develop along the way and continue to hone my skills and ideas as we go.
Most recently everyone at The Muse Gallery in London offered me not only my first major solo exhibition but the opportunity to experiment and really follow an idea from concept to execution with there help and support, despite the sheer amount of work and disruption it created to install. But without that opportunity I wouldn’t of been able to create something I’m very passionate about, I wouldn’t off been able to take a first step into a new body of work that I cannot wait to create and exhibit in the near future.
Lastly, I’m very fortunate to have the continued support of my friends and family many of whom have attend every opening and exhibition I’ve had in the last 6 years and for that i will always be grateful. Lastly my wife, Ciara who is and will always be the most important person in my life and who without I wouldn’t be able to continue down this road. She is constantly supporting my ideas and work and has always made me feel that I’m doing is worthwhile and without that, sometimes being an artist, being a creative person working against the tide (at times) in extremely difficult and without strong caring people at your side it can be impossible, so i wall always be extremely grateful to her for that.

Instagram: @michaelhenleyart

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/michael-henley-b373a222

Twitter: @Michael_P_H_Art

Other: Ello: @michaelhenleyart