My name is Michael James Henderson.
I consider myself a Social Creative.
My work emerges from my experiences and connections with the people, communities, and land around me. I tell stories about identity, sorrow and hope, and the longing for people and communities to thrive. I am inspired by so much in our beautiful world: my precious family; the array of amazing people in my life; living in breathtaking lutruwita/Tasmania; and the life of Jesus.
Shorelines (2018) was an art installation I created working with the Tasmanian Government and the State RSL to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of World War I. I created 15,000 abstracted versions of the Gallipoli lifeboats and laid them out across the Parliament House lawns, like waves approaching a shore, to symbolize all the men and women who served in the conflict.
Breathe, Shine and Seek to Mend (2019) was an art installation created with Hobart Baptist Church and exhibited during the Dark Mofo Festival to share values between the two organizations. A 6m-high crucifix wrapped in hessian was installed in the darkened auditorium of the church. The work lamented how religious institutions have used and covered up Jesus, while also inviting people to uncover and discover who Jesus is for them.
How Lonely Lies This Land, Once So Full Of People was a 3-part sculpture series exhibited across 3 separate church venues in Hobart in June 2022. The work told stories of sorrow and hope about the relationship between our Tasmanian Aboriginal communities and the Tasmanian non-Indigenous communities. This work also grew out of a written non-Indigenous response to the "Uluṟu Statement from the Heart," which I proposed in 2019, then drafted in 2020 with incredible leaders—including then-Governor Kate Warner and the Lord Mayor of Hobart Anna Reynolds, and many others from across Tasmania—and formally presented to the Tasmanian Government in 2021.
My work is held in private and public collections. It was an honor to be a finalist in the 66th Blake Prize (2021).
I have given many talks across Australia, including addressing the NSW Parliament on behalf of Screen NSW (2001), at the Sydney University Conference on Art and Spirituality (2003), and recently to the Faith and the Arts Summer School, Tasmania (2022).
The Purple Door
I write an (almost) weekly newsletter called The Purple Door. It’s about the wrestle of creativity and my wrestle with faith and God, and a place where I answer questions that either I ask of myself or am asked by readers. A link to The Purple Door is below.
The 53rd Hole
A second newsletter that I write (almost) weekly called The 53rd Hole. A newsletter about Golf and living a life that “goes for it”. A link to The 53rd Hole is below.
Selected Professional Activities
2022-2025 Leadership Development, Project Nexus
2023-2024 Creatives Development, Greater Things International, Sydney
2020-2025 Artist-in-Residence, Hobart Baptist Church
2020-2022 Blue Cow Theatre, Cowshed Play Development Program
2018-2024 Leadership and Creatives Development, Tasmanian Baptist Union
2014 Writing Residency, Arteles Creative Centre, Haukijärvi, Finland
2000 Addressed NSW Parliament House on behalf of the NSW Film and Television Office
2000 Speaker, Art and Spirituality Conference, Sydney University
1999 Guest Lecturer on Art and Spirituality, Morling Baptist College, NSW
Selected Works and Exhibitions
2025 3 Drawings, drawings, 1m square, installed at C3 Beyond, Hobart
2025 Disciples Cross, sculpture, 6m by 4m, drawings from children sculptured into the form of a cross, installed at C3 Beyond, Hobart
2023 The Seed of Life, Weighed Down, art installation, 11m wide by 2.4m high, with three wrapped figures in the centre, installed at Hobart Baptist Church, June
2023 Traverse III, art installation, 70m long path, installed at Risdon Prison, Tasmania, for Men's Health Day, May
2023 Traverse Number II, art installation, 140m long path creating a winding journey speaking of trauma and hope, installed at C3 South Hobart lawn, March-April
2022 How Lonely Lies This Land, Once So Full of People, three-piece sculpture series, each sculpture 5m high by 2.4m square, installed in three separate locations across Hobart
2021 Cosmos of Origin, art installation, 3m Earth and Sun installed in a pitch-black room, exhibited at C3 Church Hobart
2021 Breathe, Shine and Seek to Mend, Number 2, series of 27 paintings, exhibited at Hobart Baptist Church
2021 66th Blake Prize Finalist, Graffiti 1, painting 2020 Advent Art Installation, Lifeway Church, Devonport
2020 Recapturing Wonder: A Faith Memoir, 20-episode podcast exploring a faith journey of losing and recapturing faith through wonder
2020 Easter Murals, 5m tall by 2m wide, Hobart Baptist Church
2019 Breathe, Shine and Seek to Mend, Number 1, art installation, 5m high wrapped crucifix installed in the auditorium, exhibited at Hobart Baptist Church
2019 Reflections on the Christ, art installation, exhibited in Hobart and Wynyard
2018 Shorelines, art installation for the Centenary of Anzac, Tasmanian Government, 15,000 small boats installed on Tasmanian Parliament House lawn for Remembrance Day, November
2018 Finalist, Northern Beaches Art Prize, Sydney
2018 Finalist, Little Things Art Prize, Saint Cloche Gallery, Paddington
2017 Major solo exhibition of the Untitled Series, 16 paintings (25m long) and 16 drawings (22m long), Forest High School Hall
2017 Adelaide Fringe Festival, Untitled Series Drawings, installation in St Xavier's Cathedral in collaboration with the Adelaide Catholic Archdiocese
2016 Exhibition of Untitled Series, 16 drawings (22m long), Taree Baptist Church, NSW
2015 The Mess of Life, art installation, 8 interactive works, Edwardstown Baptist Church, Adelaide
2014 The Greatest Weapon in the World, small object installation
2014 Wrapped Jesus, art installation, 14m by 9m, Frenchs Forest Baptist Church, NSW
2011 Highly Commended, Mallacoota Short Story Prize (VIC)
2001 Life After Birth, animation shown on SBS Television
2000 Wrote, directed and animated two animations: The View From the Sill (2min) and Life After Birth (4min)
1999 Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, NSW: Obelisk to Human Thought, sculpture using rock, brick, concrete and steel
1999 Highly Commended, Ben Bulben Poetry Prize, VIC
Selected Collections & Awards
2006 Morling College Collection, Australia
2001 University of Technology, Sydney, Library Collection
1999 NSW Film and Television Office, Young Filmmakers Fund Award
Numerous Private Collections