Armstrong: A Telling

Michael Armstrong (Mike) was born in 1976 and was raised just outside of Melbourne, Victoria. The second of four siblings, he inherited his love of art and reading from his mother, Lynne, who encouraged his interest by taking him to local galleries and libraries and giving him pencils and sketchbooks. He spent his adolescence reading, drawing, painting and writing short stories, and was notorious for doodling and sketching constantly in the margins of his notebooks at school. He also keenly practised martial arts from a young age, eventually finding Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), the art he still practices and teaches today at Rogue BJJ. Mike graduated from Niddrie Secondary College in 1994, earning a dux in art and studio art. His graduation work was exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria as part of the VCE Top Arts exhibition in 1994.

Mike graduated from the University of Ballarat in 1997 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts – Painting, influenced by Doug Wright and Iain Reid. He then fathered two children, Corey and Elysha Armstrong, who are now budding creative artists in their own right. He explored a range of art courses, but had a burning desire to see the world. In 1998, Mike enlisted in the Australian Army. This saw him serve his country for 23 years and influenced the subject matter for many of his subsequent works. Mike served in several roles and completed four operational tours while continuing to draw and paint. While in Afghanistan, he was shocked to witness that ‘an outsider’ was commissioned to attend a place of war and paint an interpretation of the situation instead of seeking a veteran artist's view. He commenced a Master of Arts at the University of Southern Queensland in 2015. He re-engaged with academics and artists through the process to expand the scope of his art practice and deepen his theoretical and technical mastery. Mike authored and published his first novel, Brothers Blood, in 2015.

After Mike returned from Iraq in 2016, he created several works, including Death of the Bystander, Six Ways to Kill, Kill House, Destruction, Formation, Breathe and his most notable project to date, Relics of Decay. The works included collections of drawings, ceramic blades, wire, wood and paintings that explored themes of service and sacrifice. This raised contentious issues about the marginalisation of war art and challenged the social presumption that art and veteran were separate identities, versus embracing the two halves as a whole. This subject matter was at the heart of Mike's Master's exegesis.

In the same year, Mike completed his Master of Engineering (Cyber) at the University of New South Wales. He was awarded the Marie Ellis OAM Prize for Drawing in 2016 for his work Traits of the Living (Dying) and was a finalist in the Queensland Figurative Art Prize for his work Imposition II. In 2017, Mike was a finalist in the Manning Art Prize (Naked and Nude) for his work Disquiet II and a finalist in the Australian War Memorial Napier Waller Art Prize for Relics of Decay.

Mike has studied martial arts for most of his life and holds black belts in several martial arts, including Karate and BJJ. In 2017, he earned his BJJ Black Belt from John Will. He moved to Canberra then and established a professional art studio at the Australian National Capital Artists facility. There, Mike created several works, including Australian War Memorial Napier Waller Art Prize 2020 highly commended finalist Observers of Being and was a finalist in the Tom Bass Figurative Art Prize 2020 for bronze sculpture Natal 2016.

Mike suffered severe post-traumatic stress (PTSD), and in 2021, his military career ended. He turned to photography and began working with tactile substances. This inspired his award-winning, critically acclaimed photographic project Voices of Veterans. A collection of 52 photographs, the works draw on stagnant psychological narratives of heaviness, despair, self-loathing and destruction as an overwhelming and inescapable force. With their exposing imagery and striking colour, the works draw on archetypes of Australian military personnel to suggest the futility of service. Voices of Veterans was exhibited around Australia in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory over a two-year period by Mike, supported by his life partner, Tracey. His Excellency, General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) and Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley became joint patrons of the project in partnership with the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (ANVAM).

With recognised expertise in Engineering and the Arts, in 2023 Armstrong was invited to serve as an artist-in-residence with the University of Canberra (UC) robotics lab. Mike now makes art from his private studio in Canberra and teaches art and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Michael Armstrong STUDIO
g06/253 Northbourne Avenue
Lyneham 

ACT 2600 Australia

T: +61 437144 352
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