Emma Springford-Gough
Painting
LOCATION:
The Railway Collective Railway Station Railway Street Helensville |
I grew up in West Auckland and have lived in Huapai for the last 11 years, living with husband, 3 kids, dog, cat and a handful of fish.
I studied at Visual Arts at Auckland Institute of Technology, then went on to Teachers College a few years later. Teaching Art in a secondary school for 5 years before heading to London for a year. Making art, drawing specifically, has always been a great part of my life. I love drawing, it's such a raw and immediate form of expression. I use drawing as a tool for documenting objects and interiors that surround me. Ink and brush is my most fav media, but really anything will do. Embroidery is another media I embrace as an extension of drawing, I find working with fabric and stitched line a slow pace and feminine way to explore an objects and ideas. I've always had a kitchen table based practice until moving into a shared studio in Helensville 4 years ago with a bunch of amazing women. This has given me the space and time to grow my art practice and explore ideas more in-depth, playing with scale, colour and materials. I get inspiration from a range of different sources, the newspaper, current events and travelling around Aotearoa. I love hearing stories from people about their relationships and memories migration and employment and recreational sailing. As a country we have such an strong nautical history from Maori and European, colonisation and of course, trade, which is still used today as most of our merchandise comes via the sea. These ship portraits that I have been working on for the last few years, explore the nostalgic relationships we have with sailing and shipping vessels. I keep thinking of starting something new, but I'm just not finished with the ships yet. Earlier this year I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Mandy Jakich from Creative Matters. You can check out the pod cast via Creative Matters, episode 11. |
