Michael Goddard

Biography
 
Born in Lancashire, England in 1951 Michael now lives in the beautiful Peak District National Park in Derbyshire.

He studied art and design in the North of England in the late 1960’s, where a multi disciplinary art and design education fostered an understanding and interest in visual communication media. This was followed by 20 years working in a variety of design areas in the UK, starting as an interior designer in London, then as a graphic designer and photographer in the north of England.

Michael was awarded the academy young artists prize for painting over three consecutive years during the late 1970’s and shortly after became a member.

His work has been exhibited at the British International Drawing Biennale; Thackeray Gallery, London; Colin Jellicoe Gallery, Manchester; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and at other regional UK galleries. He uses a diverse range of media in his work, including painting, drawing, appliqué, as well as contemporary structural materials.
 
A period of travelling through Afghanistan, India, Thailand and Malaysia strongly influenced his early work. More recently his travel experiences as an invited guest at arts and kite events have included Australia, Israel, Borneo, Malaysia, India, Canada, USA, Norway, Thailand, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Kazakhstan.

His recent work explores light traces. Stimulated by an interest in time based media, his images have been digitally created. Capturing points of light, which are rendered as a trace on the sensor of his camera, while walking through an urban environment, usually at night. Michael applies an extensive process of image manipulation to create his final compositions, which are transferred to material using dye sublimation printing. The final image is then applied onto an airborne structure.

Michael is becoming well known internationally for his design of kites and airborne structures. He retired after 25 years of lecturing visual communication and new media in 2011. He now devotes his time to the personal development of his creative work.
 
mike@idesignkites.com