Artist Emma Springford-Gough grew up in West Auckland NZ and has lived in Huapai for the last 11 years with her husband, 3 kids, dog, cat and a handful of fish.
Making art, drawing specifically, has always been a great part of Emma’s life. She loves drawing and finds it a raw and immediate form of expression. She uses drawing as a tool for documenting objects and interiors that surround her. Ink and brush is her fav medium, but really anything will do in her eyes.
Embroidery is another medium Emma embraces as a form of drawing. She finds working with fabric and stitched line such a raw and feminine way to explore an object or idea.
Emma has been working on ship portrait paintings for the last few years, exploring the nostalgic relationships NZers have with sailing and shipping vessels.
"I am interested in the romanticism of exploration and migration. It wraps itself around Aotearoa throughout our history through recreational, commercial and sporting sailing. I choose the boats for different reasons, some appeal to my sense of nostalgia - ‘The Pacific Princess’ from the TV series I watched as a teenager. Others fit into my historical context like the RMS Rangitata, that my father sailed to New Zealand on as a small child. Some are purely based on aesthetics. I keep thinking that I have finished this body of work until I go and spot an image or scene that takes me onto a new journey within my work. I can’t wait to see where it ends up!"
Listen to Emma's podcast episode 11 to learn abut the different parts of her practice, how she approaches the commercial part of her practice and her ideas around exhibiting.
https://www.instagram.com/emmaspringford_artist/