Michael R Hayter

Michael R Hayter is a figurative painter based in Bristol who works primarily from personal experience, exploring the human condition. Originally trained as a veterinarian, he has maintained a parallel practice in drawing and painting throughout his career. His artistic practice deepened following a period of depression, during which he began creating work that drew on this difficult experience, examining moral and existential themes alongside spiritual and religious dimensions of human life.

Hayter attended art school in London during the 1990s and now works from a studio at Spike Island Artspace in Bristol. While he has worked across various media, his practice centres on painting and drawing, with recent work extending into sculpture and animation. His work has been exhibited in London, Bristol, Bath, Cambridge, and Nottingham, as well as in Bordeaux, France (2015) and Maastricht, Netherlands (2016). In 2015, he collaborated with French artist Olivier Specio on the project At Last We Fly.

His work is held in private collections across the UK, France, Belgium, Holland, and the United States.