Emma Elliott | Wry?No!

Artist Statement

Emma Elliott MRBS is a British sculptor whose central concerns are the incongruous and hypocritical aspects of humanity and the impermanence and fragility of the natural world. In her work she explores the relationships between the refined and the primitive, the physical and the spiritual, the influences of our collective past on present behaviour.

With experimentation and craftsmanship integral to her practice, Emma works in a variety of mediums including stone carving and bronze casting. Emma believes artists have a duty to wrestle with society, its elements of rigidity and puritanism and that they are in a special position to form non-verbal connections on important issues.

‘Wry?No!’ is a sculpture, hand carved in Carrara Marble, but above all it is a commentary on the ills of machismo trophy-hunting and the illegal horn trade. This endeavour that is responsible for decimating the world’s rhino population by more than 90 percent over the past 40 years. The situation is not wry. It is a serious problem. With ground rhino horn being worth more than gold on the illegal rhino horn market, and considered a cure for many common ailments in traditional medicine, the work highlights the fallacy that it can heal. Tragically, the rhino is being sentenced to death.

Artist CV

Education
2001-2005 Charles Cecil Studios | Florence
2010-2011 LARA | London

Solo Exhibitions
2018  Blood Orange | Global Canopy Foundation | The Garden Museum
2016  Reconciliation | Launch | Noho Studios

Group Shows
2018  The London Ultra | Bargehouse Gallery | Oxo Tower Wharf
2018  Ace Club 2 | Candid Arts Gallery
2018  Art & Reconciliation: In conversation| Kings College London
2018  Art & Reconciliation | Knapp Gallery | Regents University
2018  Passion For Freedom Festival | ROA Gallery | Pall Mall
2018  on form 18 | Asthall Manor | Cotswolds
2017  Sculpture and Ceramics Exhibition | Royal Opera Arcade Gallery
2016  Darkness Cannot Drive Out Darkness Only Light Can Do That | Lights of Soho Gallery
2016  Not A Champagne Life | Hundred Years Gallery
2015  Passion For Freedom | Festival and Gala | Mall Galleries
2014  Winter Pride | Finalists Exhibition | Lacey Contemporary
2014  Winter Pride | Award Ceremony | The Tobacco Docks 
2014  Winter Exhibition | Knight Webb Gallery
2013  FACE2013 | Society of Portrait Sculptors 

Awards
2018  on form 18 | Bursary for artists under 35 working in stone
2015  Passion For Freedom Festival | 1st prize | Freedom Ambassador Award 2016
2015  Passion For Freedom Festival | People’s Choice Award
2014  Winter Pride UK | 1st Prize | Visual Art Award

Collections
Public:  Yad Vashem | Visual Library – Jerusalem