Drawing influence from elements of twentieth century architecture, modern cityscape and industrial production, I make sculptures and installations that look curiously at the urban spaces we inhabit.
The production of my sculptures, revolve around ‘drifts’ taken around cities. I collect and reference architectural forms and materials, sifting through demolished buildings and industrial heaps to reformulate the discarded remains of modern culture.
My work is concerned with urban spaces and the effect it has on those that inhabit them. Concrete and artificial building materials are, to me, symbolic of an urban life that drifts towards a distancing and de-sensualisation of the human relation to reality. The growing experience of alienation, detachment and solitude in the world today seems to point towards a privileging of sight over the other senses, particularly in Modern and Postmodern architecture, leaving the body and other senses homeless.
I am interested in how we can create urban environments that draw from materials and forms that express their age and history, as well as the story of their origins and history of human use to regain a sense of connection to our environments. The work is a contemplation on technology, tradition, ambition, hope in the midst of uncertainty, community and long timescales.
Education:
2012 – 2015 - BFA The Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University
2011-2012 - Art Foundation, Wiltshire College
Exhibitions:
2019 Bare Lines, Safe House 1, London, UK
2019 And Proceed To Fill The Next Fold, The Future, Galleri 21, Malmö, SE
2018 RUNG, Spike Island, Bristol, UK
2018 Some Places Exist Only Once, Schimmel Projects Art Centre, Dresden, DE
2018 When You Travel in Time, Leave Nothing Behind, Lewisham Art House, London, UK
2018 H-Block Components, The Art House, Wakefield, UK
2017 Foundations, AVP Space, Bristol, UK
2017 Footsteps on the Roof, with Vince Deng, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2017 About the Undone, Academy of Fine Arts, Leipzig, DE
2017 CYPHER 0.3, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2016 Some Stones, with Anna Hillbom, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2016 The Griffin Art Prize, The Griffin Gallery, London, UK
2016 Backdrop: London, with Amba Sayal Bennett, ASC Gallery, London, UK
2016 Backdrop: Berlin, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2016 Phantom Object-Beings, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2016 Concrete Matters, Bank Space Gallery, London, UK
2015 The Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Art Prize, Baltic 39, Newcastle, UK
2015 Ruskin Degree Show, The Green Shed, Oxford
2015 QUARTS, The Ruskin High Street, Oxford
2015 Show - Dolphin Gallery, Oxford
2014 Ruskin BFA , The North Wall Art Centre, Oxford
2014 The Psychological, FREVD, Oxford
2014 The Queen’s College Exhibition 2014, The Ruskin High Street, Oxford
2013 'The Ruskin Prelims Show', Oxford
2013 ‘The Romance of Dereliction’ OVADA, Oxford
2013 The Queen’s College Exhibition 2013, The Ruskin, Oxford
2013 The Sublime, Edgar Wind Society Journal Launch at Turl Street Kitchen, Oxford
Prizes:
2016 The Griffin Art Prize (Shortlisted)
2015 The Woon Foundation Sculpture and Painting Art Prize (Shortlisted)
2015 The Red Mansion Art Prize (Shortlisted)
2014 The Dunn School of Pathology Commissioning Prize
Publications:
2018 RUNG Magazine
'CYPHER'
'Cypher' began in November 2015 as a weekly group critique meeting which has now evolved into a project space in Berlin. The initiative is aimed at developing a practise through a means of discussion. For the link to our tumblr click here.
Contact: emmapapworth@live.co.uk
pictures
Studio
The production of my sculptures, revolve around ‘drifts’ taken around cities. I collect and reference architectural forms and materials, sifting through demolished buildings and industrial heaps to reformulate the discarded remains of modern culture.
My work is concerned with urban spaces and the effect it has on those that inhabit them. Concrete and artificial building materials are, to me, symbolic of an urban life that drifts towards a distancing and de-sensualisation of the human relation to reality. The growing experience of alienation, detachment and solitude in the world today seems to point towards a privileging of sight over the other senses, particularly in Modern and Postmodern architecture, leaving the body and other senses homeless.
I am interested in how we can create urban environments that draw from materials and forms that express their age and history, as well as the story of their origins and history of human use to regain a sense of connection to our environments. The work is a contemplation on technology, tradition, ambition, hope in the midst of uncertainty, community and long timescales.
Education:
2012 – 2015 - BFA The Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University
2011-2012 - Art Foundation, Wiltshire College
Exhibitions:
2019 Bare Lines, Safe House 1, London, UK
2019 And Proceed To Fill The Next Fold, The Future, Galleri 21, Malmö, SE
2018 RUNG, Spike Island, Bristol, UK
2018 Some Places Exist Only Once, Schimmel Projects Art Centre, Dresden, DE
2018 When You Travel in Time, Leave Nothing Behind, Lewisham Art House, London, UK
2018 H-Block Components, The Art House, Wakefield, UK
2017 Foundations, AVP Space, Bristol, UK
2017 Footsteps on the Roof, with Vince Deng, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2017 About the Undone, Academy of Fine Arts, Leipzig, DE
2017 CYPHER 0.3, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2016 Some Stones, with Anna Hillbom, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2016 The Griffin Art Prize, The Griffin Gallery, London, UK
2016 Backdrop: London, with Amba Sayal Bennett, ASC Gallery, London, UK
2016 Backdrop: Berlin, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2016 Phantom Object-Beings, Cypher Space, Berlin, DE
2016 Concrete Matters, Bank Space Gallery, London, UK
2015 The Woon Foundation Painting and Sculpture Art Prize, Baltic 39, Newcastle, UK
2015 Ruskin Degree Show, The Green Shed, Oxford
2015 QUARTS, The Ruskin High Street, Oxford
2015 Show - Dolphin Gallery, Oxford
2014 Ruskin BFA , The North Wall Art Centre, Oxford
2014 The Psychological, FREVD, Oxford
2014 The Queen’s College Exhibition 2014, The Ruskin High Street, Oxford
2013 'The Ruskin Prelims Show', Oxford
2013 ‘The Romance of Dereliction’ OVADA, Oxford
2013 The Queen’s College Exhibition 2013, The Ruskin, Oxford
2013 The Sublime, Edgar Wind Society Journal Launch at Turl Street Kitchen, Oxford
Prizes:
2016 The Griffin Art Prize (Shortlisted)
2015 The Woon Foundation Sculpture and Painting Art Prize (Shortlisted)
2015 The Red Mansion Art Prize (Shortlisted)
2014 The Dunn School of Pathology Commissioning Prize
Publications:
2018 RUNG Magazine
'CYPHER'
'Cypher' began in November 2015 as a weekly group critique meeting which has now evolved into a project space in Berlin. The initiative is aimed at developing a practise through a means of discussion. For the link to our tumblr click here.
Contact: emmapapworth@live.co.uk
pictures
Studio
