About Michelle Cobbin Artist - Inspiration & Influences

Artist Statement

Michelle Cobbin is a Brighton-based painter whose artwork reflects a lifelong pursuit of peace and calmness. Combining her experience as a yogi and meditator with her creative practice, she produces abstracted landscape paintings that evoke calm, simplicity, and connection.

Born and raised in rural Suffolk, Michelle’s early years next to a vast US military airbase profoundly shaped her perspective. The flat, open landscapes of East Anglia remain a key influence, providing a backdrop for her exploration of emotional depth and inner worlds. Her art features minimalist compositions and thoughtful colour palettes, designed to inspire reflection and evoke a range of emotions.

In 2023, the news of nuclear weapons returning to Lakenheath, the airbase near her childhood home, prompted Michelle to create a new series of work. These paintings draw on her memories of living near the base in the 1970s and ’80s, a time marked by the knowledge of nuclear armaments and the relentless noise of fighter jets. The series uses child-like imagery to explore the emotional and societal impacts of militarisation, offering a poignant perspective on the interplay of war and peace.

Michelle’s art is rooted in her ongoing exploration of peace—whether through creating meditative works, evoking serenity in her viewers, or sparking conversations about war and its consequences.