Emma Gregory
Emma Gregory is an artist, now living in Bristol, although formerly of London, Leeds and Liverpool.
Emma is currently exploring the complex and conflicting feelings we experience in relation to mothers and motherhood. She switches from one medium to another to suit the content: drawing, writing, painting, stitching, carpentry. There is inevitably a lot of play involved, often in collaboration with other artists.
Emma has worked for the National Theatre, The Hayward, Whitechapel, The Bluecoat – among others. Here in Bristol, she runs a course for artists called Press Play and a drawing-based research group, also working as a freelance educator.
Works
Shall I be mother?
Last year Emma made a series of eighteen teapots exploring aspects of her own experience of motherhood with support and philosophical chat supplied by Steve Carter of St. Werburghs Pottery.
HER-MIT PROJECTS
HER-MIT PROJECTS was created by Natasha MacVoy.The project allows Tash to curate into various less conventional spaces including her kitchen and garden shed.Taking part in the project revealed new meaning in Emma’s work, opening doors onto additional avenues of research and exploration. Emma is exploring these using a residency at The Garage in Clifton with fellow artists and mothers Henny Burnett and Esmé Clutterbuck.
Look at the fear and do it anyway
Distinct from preparatory drawings, the images below were begun without a preconceived idea in mind – like a ‘free write’. This type of (daily) drawing is key to Emma’s research practice.These particular drawings examine the nature of fear and anxiety – a theme within the overall practice.
Drawing as a Tool for CPD
Last year Emma brought together a small number of artists to work on the use of drawing as a tool for the continuing professional development of an artist. Exploration and mess with charcoal and a team. Wonderful. Based at Drawing Projects UK in Trowbridge.
Press Play - more than just a course
Press Play is a course and an ethos and a community, now in its fifth year based at Spike Print Studios. Emma created it in response to her own need and Matthew Burrows’ ABC Project. The course introduces a small cohort of artists to a series of questions and practical tasks over a year, designed to build confidence and knowledge of one’s practice. It is fluid, changing in response to the make-up and needs of the group – a fantastic thing. The year group tends to stick together afterwards, the people within it continuing to provide support and feedback to one another.