Michael Muir

Born 1975, Kilmarnock, Scotland

Lives & Works – Northern Beaches, Sydney

Muir's work alludes to the underlying echoes of solitude found in the suburban landscape and the co-existing joie de vivre which he brings to the surface with his sun drenched colour palette recalling Australian nostalgia. Conveying this familiar duality where candy pinks and blues, merge into the saturated greens of new growth and nature, his paintings are almost surrealist where a dream-like state and reality converge. Figures wander through urbanscapes; crossing streets, entering shops, resting on beaches or admiring the sky. Faceless and turned away from the viewer we are firmly placed on the other side, watching and contemplating. Muir’s work exists in the inherent delicate balance of all things; vibrant and joyful, open and welcoming recalling the enigmatic energies of Summer, while interconnecting with the secluded and earnest moments reality can bring.

Honing his studio skills through formal studies in painting and design, Muir has departed from traditional plein-air painting to describe more ambiguous visual puzzles derived from the urban landscape. Inspired by the experience of travel and viewing locations with fresh eyes, Muir’s works playfully oscillate between memory and reality, figuration and abstraction, the familiar and the unknown.

I realised over time, that my approach to finding subject matter relates back to my personal experience of shifting homes and countries at young age. There is a mix of excitement and trepidation when you arrive at a new place, and a natural instinct to seek out what is familiar and inviting within a new environment. When I travel now, I am often making quick sketches, gouache paintings utilise a camera and write ideas about feelings and spontaneous thoughts. Looking for a sense of vibrancy and belonging within the surroundings . When I bring these working ideas and studies back to the studio and start working on a larger scale, I slowly unravel the interplay of colour, composition and form. The paintings purposely blend truth and fiction but also connect with early personal memories that set me on a path to looking at the world around me. — Michael Muir, 2025

Born in Scotland, Muir’s childhood was spent in South East Asia before settling in Sydney. Muir was the winner of the Mosman Art Prize (2014) and has been a finalist in a number of awards over the past decade including the Wynne Prize (2015, 2014), Sulman Prize (2005) and Fleurieu Art Prize (2004). His work is represented in Australia’s Artbank collection, Parliament House Art Collection and private collections throughout Australia and internationally.