Fragmented Faces with Michael Owen

Next date: Thursday, 04 June 2026 | 06:00 PM to Thursday, 25 June 2026 | 08:30 PM

In this dynamic, hands-on workshop, participants will delve into the expressive potential of the human face by intentionally disrupting, rearranging, and reframing traditional portraiture. Through playful experimentation and guided techniques, the group will explore how fractured imagery can reveal the layered, shifting nature of identity.

Across the session, participants will work with a range of approaches, including collage, drawing, mixed media, and sequential portrait studies, to deconstruct the face and rebuild it in unexpected ways. By deliberately fragmenting and distorting familiar features, artists will uncover new visual pathways for representing changing facial expressions, and emotional states.

This workshop invites participants to:

Investigate the human face as a site of constant change:
Explore how subtle shifts in expression can transform the mood, meaning, and perceived identity of a portrait.

Experiment with creative disruption:
Break apart and reassemble portrait elements to challenge traditional realism and embrace the beauty of the unexpected.

Reflect on self and others through an artistic lens
Consider how multiple emotions, histories, and identities can coexist within a single image.

Develop a multi-layered final work:
Create a composite portrait that captures complexity, movement, and multiplicity—resulting in an artwork that feels alive, dynamic, and deeply personal.

Please note:

All materials, including canvas, acrylics, and supplies, will be provided – the only thing you need to bring is your creativity!

Participants are encouraged to work from memory, but may wish to bring some photographs to get them started.

Suitable for all experience levels.

About the Facilitator

Michael Owen, also known as Mikoen, is a Campbelltown-based multimedia artist whose practice moves fluidly across a professional background in Hip Hop culture, painting, sculpture, caricature, and tattoo.

Drawing on years of professional experience across multiple disciplines, Michael is passionate about making art accessible and expressive. As a Creative Educator at Campbelltown Arts Centre (CAC), he brings this ethos into the studio and classroom mentoring emerging creatives, nurturing individual voices, and fostering spaces where experimentation can thrive.

Venue: Workshop 4

Capacity: 15

View the Workshop Terms and Conditions here