My practice centres around painting, research and recently printing, using local architecture as a source of inspiration. I want to build on my existing ideas around colour and pattern and learn new technical skills working with a screen printing workshop and experiment with design and scale. Alongside this I want to experiment with the book as an interdisciplinary way to develop ideas.
Firstly, I would undertake a research visit to The Higgins in Bedford which holds the artist Edward Bawden’s collection of works and currently has an exhibition on ‘Edward Bawden, Printmaker’. Also I want to learn screen printing techniques to develop my ideas from paintings to print.
My proposal includes documenting through photography 2 significant Darlington buildings – Crown Street Library and Pease House to build a visual record and as a starting point to work on visual designs for painting/print. And then to develop ways to make books, through incorporating and reusing, recycling old books and papers into new book-forms and connecting ideas relating to the old and new, historic and contemporary while using Crown Street Library and Teesside Archives to research the buildings mentioned .
I want spend dedicated time on research and work in a wider context. Gaining new skills and having the opportunity to experiment with new ideas this will help me to raise my profile further.
As well as using the town’s architecture as a source of inspiration for the project I would like to spend some time if possible in the library, talking to library users about the building and gathering some visual and written research for my own work and that could possibly be used in a display during and at the end of the project. The final work would be available for an exhibition or reproduced into large posters or banners for display within the town. The book works could be seen in a library context at the library or gallery. My work will reflect the local area while being seen in a new way.
I studied MA Fine Art at Teesside University and live and work in Middlesbrough. My art practice centres around colour and architecture and my work ranges from small intimate paintings to large scale site-specific wall paintings. Many of the artworks reference a nostalgic attachment to places and structures that are often overlooked or neglected. Using relationships of vibrant colours and lively patterns, I want the viewer to look again at the built environment. My work declares the architectural beauty and social importance of these places and buildings.
My work has been selected by curator George Vasey for the upcoming New Light Summer Exhibition, two of my paintings are in Mima’s Middlesbrough Collection and one of those is currently showing in the exhibition ‘The Secret Lives of Bottle of Notes’. My recent public art commission ‘Middlesbrough Moquette’ part of the Most Creative Station Project is currently on display at Middlesbrough Train Station. Recent exhibitions include ‘Legacy’ at Platform A Gallery (2024), Beep Painting Prize (2024), ‘Working Lives’ at Mima (2024) and ‘Municipal’ at 50MV, Liverpool(2024).
MA Fine Art (Distinction), Mima School of Art, Teesside University
BA Fine Art (2:1), Teesside University
2023/24 Art Network North East Bursary Award
2023 a-n Artists Bursary Award
Yes, Chairperson for Gilkes Street Artists, a studio group in Middlesbrough
Yes, I was commissioned by Mima in 2021 to produce a large scale wall painting (Pink Stairway) as part of the exhibition ‘Sonia Boyce: In the Castle of My Skin’.
Yes, 2 artworks purchased by Mima
As part of the group exhibition ‘Sonia Boyce: In the Castle of My Skin’ featured in The Art Newspaper https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/07/28/getting-to-know-sonia-boyce-ahead-of-her-venice-biennale-debut-a-new-show-deep-dives-into-her-practice
The Guardian https://dailytimes.com.pk/781934/sonia-boyces-kaleidoscopic-collage-gets-under-your-skin/
Yes, in 2024 undertaken a 2 week residency in Northumberland with VARC (Visual Artists in Rural Communities) as part of their Full Circle Program, in 2023 a 1 week residency at VARC.
2016-17 Artist in Residence (AA2A project) at Teesside University
2014-15 Artist in Residence (AA2A project) at Teesside University
Email: emmabennett@rocketmail.com
Address: 15 Harrow Road,, Middlesbrough., MIDDLESBROUGH, Teesside, TS5 5PE, GB
Local Authority: Middlesbrough
