Theatre Of The Grotesque No. 6: Parental Wishes

Artwork is ready to hang - attached with velcro to wood hanger with D-rings and wire

In this series, I have been exploring issues of social conformity. Inspired by the phrases said to me as a child, I seek to address confronting topics in ways that invite quiet contemplation while evoking a sense of creeping unease. Of course, there is always humour in my work ;)

Why can't you be normal?
You wouldn't be bullied if you were normal, it's your fault.
Why can't you be more like your sister?
You wouldn't be such a loser if you were normal.
We're embarrassed in front of our friends having a weird child.
You're dressing like that just to spite us.

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Michelle Driver is a South Australian artist working exclusively in handwoven tapestry. Her practice is grounded in slow labour, repetition, and material discipline, approaching tapestry as a rigorous studio practice rather than a decorative craft.

Her work is shaped by queerness, neurodiversity, and lived experience of trauma, and often draws on gothic aesthetics and unsettling narrative. Through weaving, she explores shadow, memory, and the tension between obedience and refusal, revealing beauty within what is overlooked or difficult to name.

Driver’s work has been recognised nationally, including winning the 2016 Port Pirie Art Prize and inclusion in Radical Textiles at the Art Gallery of South Australia.