ROSIE EMERSON

Rosie Emerson is an award winning contemporary artist from Dorset, working almost exclusively on representing the female form. Emerson’s figures draw reference from archetypes old and new; from Artemis to the modern day super model.

Inspired by her love of theatre, performance, shrines and rituals, she uses dramatic lighting, hand made costumes, set and prop making alongside printmaking and painting to create other-worldly one-off pieces. She photographs her models in her studio with lighting reminiscent of the drama of the Baroque period and poses inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

From these photographs she then utilises different print techniques. Her screen-prints are delicately embellished with bronze powders and more unusual materials including charcoal powder, ash and saw dust. These textural prints shift the focus of printmaking from precision and replication to the creation of unique, hand-finished prints.

Her cyanotype works enable her use UV light from the sun to expose objects and large scale photographic negatives directly on to the paper which has been coated with a light sensitive emulsion. Once dried, the works are often hand painted or gilded with gold leaf. Emerson says ‘the technique itself has an element of magic about it, it also a wonderful discovery to be able to combine painting, collage and photography in this way’’.

Career highlights include being Artist in residence at Somerset House, Exhibitions at the RWA, Bristol and the Southbank Centre. A Finalist for the Young Masters Prize and shortlisted for the Rise Art Print Award, Emerson was also commissioned by Hackney WickED Arts Festival to create a new Guinness World record and create the world’s largest Cyanotype photograph.

Her work is widely collected and exhibited both in the UK, as well as internationally, through galleries, art fairs and museums. She has also been commissioned by brands and individuals including Sony, Triumph Underwear, Redbull, P&O Cruises, Toms, and Annoushka jewelry working with models Amber le Bon, Daisy Lowe and singer Eliza Doolittle. Her work has also been featured in Vogue, Harpers Bazaar, Another Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine and The Sunday Times Style Magazine.