Thanks for being with us, Emily!
Can you tell us which artists inspire you? Are there non-artistic influences such as literature or music that impact your work?
My main inspirations come from my experiences of digital space, from Instagram to horror games. I’ve always found it interesting to explore these 2D spaces. Especially looking at how these fake spaces impact our view of the physical world. For ‘Fairy Pond’, I was inspired by
Scottish Fairy tales, where water fairies go to great lengths to lure victims inside their world.
That idea of luring someone into a space which is physically inaccessible to us feels so
similar to that idea of entering the digital space, where reality is blurred. Surrealism is
another avenue in which the lines of reality are crossed and so I’m particularly inspired by
artists like Leonora Carrington, whose paintings seem to create a window to another
universe. Where the audience is invited to peer into everyday scenes from mystical lives.

How do you typically approach your creative process from initial inspiration to the
completion of your artwork?
I use quite an intuitive process, especially in landscape painting, and so each painting
becomes vastly different. Most of the time I work without a precise image, rather looking to
capture a feeling, but I’m constantly taking photos of my day-to-day life, and so from seeing the repetition of these images in my phone I get an idea of what mood I’m trying to convey once I’m in the studio. When working without a preconceived idea, I pick out a palette and work from there, making marks on the page and responding to them until I see a direction I want to paint. Pre-planned paintings usually come from a feeling I’m experiencing so strongly I see it in everything, and from there I can pinpoint the visuals which represent that atmosphere the most.

What challenges did you experience during the creation of your work and how did you
overcome them?
’Fairy Pond’, was especially challenging as I was working from an eagle view, trying to
create a largely white light, within a blue pond. I painted the water and then the ring, and so
had to constantly go to change one after painting the other. Especially as the orange
contrasting the blue meant that any small tweaks to the tone changed the overall effect of
the painting. I just kept working until I felt the light ‘clicked’, trying to fight the urge to start
again, knowing that sometimes layering is key to a painting.

What do you do to keep motivated and interested in your work?
The motivation to paint comes in waves for me, once I’m inspired to paint, I’m on a roll! But
sometimes once I’ve made quite a few paintings that I’ve felt really worked, I lose the
motivation to paint. But the great thing about art for me is that there are so many aspects to be interested in. I’m especially interested in critical curation, and the great thing about reading about curation is that it introduces to you so many different artworks. Continuing to
look at my inspirations, catching up on video games, fairytales, and my day-to-day life.
Whilst at the same time remaining productive by focusing on the admin I have to do in order to keep my practice going. Means that I can build up this motivation without forcing myself to paint too harshly.

How has your practice changed over time?
I’ve only been painting for around 4-5 years, but in that time my practice has changed a lot,
and continues to change all the time. Initially I focused on portraiture, only painting line
based alien-like faces. Then I continued on with line, whilst painting liminal spaces consisting of grey hallways and train stations. Now I’m still painting liminal spaces, but I’ve spent the last year experimenting with colour and painting techniques. I think each of these stages have greatly informed the next, and I’m looking forward now to combining some of my new skills with my old ones, creating more nuanced pieces.

What emotions or reactions do you hope viewers experience when they see your
artwork?
I’m hoping with this piece, that viewers feel drawn into the image just as much as they would if a fairy floated by.

Connect with Emily on Instagram. Future/Past runs at Six Foot Gallery until Tuesday 14th October.