This August, St Ives’ New Craftsman Gallery brings you a vibrant exhibition of intensely coloured floral landscapes and floral still life works by painter Emily Powell.
Words by Mercedes Smith
The collection celebrates the beauty of the season and expresses the artist’s immense sense of gratitude for summer’s wealth of natural beauty.
“It has been proven again and again that being in nature is hugely important for improving our wellbeing, and that colour supercharges our mood. For this exhibition I wanted to bring together a collection of works that combine the two, highlighting the joyous wonder of being alive,” says Emily.
As a contemporary colourist, Powell has made a swift and significant mark on the British art scene over the last few years, creating bold and brilliantly coloured still lifes, grand floral depictions and images of ethereal flying wildlife in a wide variety of media, from paintings and drawings, to collages and sculptures. Expressions of love and joy are central to her work. Emotions are characterised by a host of familiar and exotic animals amid scenes filled with curious trees and vivid flowers, enhanced by her preference for painting on a monumental scale in a way that immerses the viewer in a world of colour and fantasy.
Recent collections have reflected her journey into motherhood following the birth of her daughter in the winter of 2021, as well as the turbulence of global and domestic politics over the past few years. Painted in her distinctive bold and brilliant palette, this uplifting collection demonstrates her talent for touching allegory, subtle wit and powerful emotion.
Emily Powell studied at Norwich School of Art and at the Ecole Régionale des Beaux-Arts de Rouen in France. She has exhibited with the Royal Society of Art, collaborated with MoMA, National Galleries Scotland and The British Museum, and in 2022 she was invited to paint the entrance of London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.
Love & Joy in the Flowers will show at New Craftsman Gallery, St Ives from 10th August to 6th September 2024.
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