Michelle Ronksley-Pavia

Michelle Ronksley-Pavia, born in Sheffield, England, is an emerging artist in Australia. She is also a writer and art teacher, particularly of gifted children categorised as talented in visual arts.

Ronksley-Pavia studied for eight years in Belgium where she was awarded Student of the Year at the École des Beaux Arts in Brussels. While in Europe she was greatly influenced by the works of the impressionists and the Belgian surrealist painter Rene Magritte.

She emigrated to Australia where she became a citizen in 1992. In Sydney, Ronksley-Pavia attended the University of Western Sydney and continued with postgraduate study in visual arts where she was drawn to works of the likes of James Gleeson, and Brett Whiteley. She exhibited widely and joined the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) whose influence helped her art career to flourish. In 1995 she was included in the D.W. Thorpe publication of The Who's Who of Australian Visual Artists.

Ronksley-Pavia's entry for the 2000 Archibald Prize, a portrait of NSW Police Commissioner Peter Ryan, was the centre of controversy. There was criticism of the amount of time the commissioner was giving to having his portrait painted as opposed to police work, and the Daily Telegraph published a disparaging article.

Ronksley-Pavia’s themes generally delve into the human unconscious using scientific subject matter with overtones of religious and particularly ethical questions with regard to DNA cloning, inequalities and racial issues. She has become increasingly interested in the mixing of science and art. She was particularly interested in Karl Jung’s archetypes of the collective unconscious and symbolism.

References

• Ronksley-Pavia, Michelle (1974 - ), National Foundation for Australian Women, Australian Women's Archives Project Web Site
• Artworkers

• The Daily Telegraph (Australia) Newspaper, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Front Page and page 4 morning edition, 8 March 2000
• Churchie emerging art

• National Association for the Visual Arts. The Who’s Who of Australian Visual Artists, 2nd ed. D. W. Thorpe, Melbourne, 1995

External links

• Visual arts, Michelle Ronksley-Pavia
• Gold Coast Newsletter

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