Emma Copley
I was born in Ireland, grew up in the United States, and live and work in the UK. Glimpses of the everyday and human connection are ongoing threads within my work. My paintings and books – on wood panels, perspex, and paper – explore personal experiences of isolation, love and connection.
Each painting is inspired by my everyday life: a dark sink full of dishes with the sun coming in the window, or my daughter wrapped up in blankets on her bed. I work from personal images and also use found photos and historical references. I print and fold the printed images I work from. Using the printed image as a starting point, I create the composition and eliminate areas from the image in order to intensify the emotion. Sometimes I tear up paintings and rearrange them to create new compositions, or turn them into books – this has become an important part of my process.
I paint in layers with thick oils on wood and smooth, flat gouache on paper. My paintings begin with muted tones, mixing greys tinted with primary colour, ending with an infusion of bright colour that relates closely to these. I spend a lot of time looking at my palette and mixing groups of colour. Brushstrokes vary between smooth, slow, thoughtful marks and fast, thick layers of paint. When using oils, I paint quickly with brushes and a palette knife – spreading globs of paint on a smooth hard surface, wet into wet, carving out forms and building up texture. The recognisable parts of the image and the texture of the thick paint draws you in, while unfinished areas allow your eye to complete the image and the smell of oil holds your attention.
My largest works are 14 metres long and the smallest are 15 x 22 centimetres. I am drawn to working on accordion books, giant sheets of watercolour paper, wood panels, and with window motifs. I am influenced by figurative and abstract approaches to painting and depicting the figure and my daily life. I am interested in how techniques like distortion, fragmentation and layering bridge these approaches, and how they can be used to symbolise different states of being like joy and trauma.
EDUCATION
2017 Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge School of Art, Master’s Degree in Fine Arts (DI)
2001 Rhode Island School Of Design, Providence, RI, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting
2001 European Honours Programme, Rome, Italy, Rhode Island School Of Design (Hons)
EXHIBITIONS
UPCOMING
2026/27 Clyde & Co, NPA Exhibition, London
2026/27 MacFarlanes LLP, NPA Exhibition, London
2026 Process not perfection, Sol Creative Foundry, Cambridge
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019/20 24 Portraits: Recovering and Reimagining Women’s Labour, University of Cambridge
2017 Pictures of You, The Hospital Club, London
2013 Changing Spaces, Regents Street, Cambridge
2011 Dreams and Memories, Salem Art Works, Salem, NY
2008 Nitty Gritty, Yates Art Gallery, Siena College, Albany, NY
2001 The Show, Senior Thesis, European Honours Program, RISD, Rome, Italy
AWARDS / RESIDENCIES / COLLECTIONS
2025/26 Selected, New Platform Art - Professional Development Programme
2023 Group Winner, East Anglia Art Can Group - Holly Bush Women's Painting Prize
2022 Winner, Artist Surfaces Award, Artist Support Pledge
2020 Collection, University of Cambridge’s permanent collection of artworks.
2020 Longlist, Jackson’s Painting Prize, 2 paintings, ‘Family II’ and ‘Sea Water’
2019 Awarded Grant, by University of Cambridge to support making of ‘24 Portraits’
2018 Winner, The Other Art Fair x Habitat Award, Habitat AW18 Collection
2018 Artist in Residence, The Stephen Perse Foundation, Cambridge
2017 Shortlist, Sustainability Art Prize, Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge
2017 Commissioned, British Airways Advertisement
2016 Selected, ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2016 Selected, one of 25 artists shortlisted, The Ashurst Emerging Art Prize, London
2016 Selected, Lynn Painter Stainers Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2016 Longlist Sunday Times Watercolour Competition
2015 Semi Finalist, Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year
2015 Selected for ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
Private Collections Internationally
PUBLICATIONS
2021 Housebound, Chapel Arts, curated by Susane Francis
2020 24 Portraits, Online RISD Alumni News Article
2018 The Telegraph, ‘The expert guide to buying, framing, hanging art in your home’
2018 House Beautiful, ‘Hello Gallery Wall’
2018 The Habitat Blog
2017 Artists and Illustrators Magazine, ‘Painters to Watch’
2016 Interview, Saatchi Art Canvas, ‘One to Watch’
2016 Interview, Aesthetica Magazine https://aestheticamagazine.com/representational-painting/
2016 Featured Article, The Artist Magazine
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Winter Open, Babylon Gallery, Ely
2024 Mill Road Exhibition, Romsey Mill, Cambridge
2024 The Miniatures Challenge, Canal Boat Contemporary, London
2023 Sanctuary, Women in Art Prize / Art Can East, Leper Chapel, Cambridge
2023 UnConsumed, The Shoe Factory, Norwich
2022 Framing Our Future, Art Can, Online with Interview
2022 Newmarket Open, National Horse Racing Museum
2022 Winter, Kingsgate Project Space, Curated by KV Duong, ArtCan, London
2021 A Generous Space, Hasting Contemporary
2021 Letchworth Open, Broadway Art Gallery, Curated by Kristian Day Gallery
2020 Housebound, Chapel Arts Studios, Online and Publication
2019 Summer Open, ARB Gallery, University of Cambridge
2018 The Other Art Fair, London
2018 Cambridge Original Print Biennale, Cambridge
2018 20x20 Hospital Rooms, Griffin Gallery, London
2017 PIY Paint Lounge, Sluice Biennial, London
2017 Epilogue, Gallery 9, Norfolk St, Cambridge
2017 Flare, MA Degree Show, Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge School of Art
2017 Axis, MA Fine Art and Photography Exhibition, Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge School of Art
2017 This One’s For You, Cambridge School of Art
2017 Collaboratory, Artspace, Cambridge
2017 Sustainability Art Prize, Ruskin Gallery, Cambridge School of Art
2016 Mapping Translations, Artspace, Cambridge
2016 Lyme Park, Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year
2016 The Other Art Fair, Old Truman Brewery, London
2016 Cambridge Art Fair, Josephine Harpur Gallery
2016 The Aldeburgh Gallery, Norfolk
2016 Lynn Painter Stainers Touring Exhibition, Guildford Art Gallery
2016 The Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize, Ashurst llp, London
2016 Introducing, Beside the Wave, Primrose Hill, London
2016 Lynn Painter Stainers Prize and Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2016 Ecriture Feminine, Edgar Modern, Bath
2015 Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year Exhibition, Lyme Park, Cheshire
2015 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, The Mall, London
2015 Summer Exhibition, Addenbrookes Art Programme, Cambridge
2015 Cambridge Drawing Society, Guildhall, Cambridge
2012 The Sketchbook Project, Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn, NY
2012 Icing: Emma Copley & Claire Sherwood, The Arts Center, Troy, NY
2012 Allscapes, The Art Center of the Capitol Region, Troy, NY
2000 Disegni Dagli Album, European Honours Programme, RISD, Rome, Italy
