The One
MICHAEL DOLE
The One
2021
Artist Michael Dole’s One (2021) reads as an interior portrait – a study of a woman whose face we never see, yet whose presence fills the frame. Turned away from us, her back is articulated in faceted planes of light and shadow, more sculpted than strictly anatomical. Waves of hair fall towards a band of saturated blue, the skirt acting almost as an anchoring field of colour amid the softer mauves, greys and aquas that dissolve the background into something between wall, weather and memory.
By withholding the figure’s gaze, Dole shifts the work from likeness into something more psychologically charged. The One suggests solitude without loneliness; a moment of self-possession, of being fully inside one’s own thoughts, with the world kept politely at arm’s length. It is a painting that holds a room quietly, rewarding the viewer who is prepared to sit with it, rather than simply look at it.
Details
The One is a one-of-a-kind original by Michael Dole, capturing a solitary figure seen from behind in a subtly fractured, almost sculptural treatment of the body. Set against a veil of atmospheric blues and mauves, the work evokes that suspended moment between withdrawal and emergence – a pause in which the subject belongs entirely to herself. Hung in a domestic setting, the painting brings with it a calm, contemplative charge, inviting the viewer into its silence rather than demanding attention.
MICHAEL DOLE
'The One' 2021
Acrylic on canvas
70cm x 100 cm
Edition: Unique original (1/1)
Orientation: Portrait
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Artist Michael Dole is a rare hybrid of director, filmmaker and artist whose practice has unfolded over more than three decades and across four continents. Now based in the Byron Bay Hinterland, he moves fluently between set and studio, allowing each discipline to infect the other. His films carry the stillness and compositional rigour of painting, while his paintings feel charged with the tempo, rhythm and emotional cadence of cinema. The result is a body of work preoccupied less with spectacle than with the subtle pressure points of lived experience – the quiet, often overlooked moments where a life tilts.
Critically, Dole’s work resists cynicism. Whether he is collaborating with global musicians or developing intimate fine art series, his focus remains on the inter lives of people and the worlds they inhabit. Exhibiting locally and internationally, and increasingly mentoring the next generation of image-makers, he uses each project as an inquiry into how we see and how we are seen. At the core of his practice is a insightful, demanding ambition. To create work that meets people where they are, tells the truth about being human and stays with you long after you have walked away.
SHIPPING & DELIVERY
All artworks are shipped from the Byron Bay Hinterland, Australia, securely packed and fully insured in transit.
Within Australia we offer a flat Standard Shipping rate of $50 AUD, with delivery generally 2 to 8 business days from dispatch.
For customers outside Australia, Standard International shipping is available at a flat rate of $150 AUD, with delivery typically 5 to 9 business days from dispatch.
You will receive tracking details as soon as your artwork leaves the studio so you can follow its journey to you.
International customers are responsible for any local customs duties or taxes that may apply in their country.