Emma Gregory ::::::

I am an artist based in Bristol although formerly of London, Leeds and Liverpool and my practice deals with the business of human emotion.

Each piece starts with an observation around which I riff, choosing the medium to suit the content so I switch between drawing, writing, painting, stitching, carpentry, ceramics. This involves play, often in collaboration with other creatives.

My first and second degrees are in Fine Art Print but I wouldn’t call myself a printmaker. I’ve noticed, increasingly, I am using print to document or reflect on a piece of work, either in progress or when I believe I have an outcome.  It moves the subject into a useful category, close to ‘archival’, creating critical distance between myself and my work.My first and second degrees are in Fine Art Print but I wouldn’t call myself a printmaker. I’ve noticed, increasingly, I am using print to document or reflect on a piece of work, either in progress or when I believe I have an outcome.  It moves the subject into a useful category, close to ‘archival’, creating critical distance between myself and my work.

My Women in Print residency was in two parts: an exhibition at The Birley, followed a month later by a week in UCLan’s print workshop. The exhibition was an invaluable: time and space to step back from the practice and see it as a whole. We rarely make time for this. It filled me with confidence which I took into the workshop.

But the workshop week didn’t give me the outcomes I was expecting and created more questions than it provided answers. Writer Julia Johnson interviewed me twice on behalf of Corridor8 and a question which came up was ‘what expectations do I have of myself because I am a woman’? Collaborators Jackie Haynes and Heather Ross (aka ‘Artist A & Artist B’) each gifted me a different kind of plaything: Jackie gave me the pattern for her ‘signature skirt’ and Heather referred to a piece of my work as ‘restless’. It was like giving a plant a load of top-quality compost and I’ve been playing with these three ideas ever since.

Julia Johnson’s essay Emma Gregory: Dynamics of care – https://corridor8.co.uk/article/emma-gregory-dynamics-of-care/