Teenage Dreams Painting

Emma Hockley’s work fuses elements from religious traditions, personal photographs, nature and topical media images to address existential dilemmas whilst appropriating styles and influences from both her formal art education as well as her many travels. Dissatisfaction and considerations of whether this life has meaning, purpose or value are core to her inspiration. Isolation, insecurity, peace, retreat and a shattered sense of reality are all common themes. The image juxtapositions together with her celebration of paint application techniques reflect her hectic and often contradictory states of mind, whilst highlighting the humour that can be found there. Emma’s interaction with her paintings is a physical process. From scraping and burning to stitching and sanding, her quest to find the desired multi sensory surface is reflective of her inner battles to find comfort and happiness. Emma has no rigidity in her painting process, instead allowing her work to respond to her environment and current self-analysis in an attempt to keep each piece honest and personal. The abstract works are more spontaneous, born from her passion for texture and what she finds to be the meditative act of painting. These generally single-colour pieces work as a breathing space from the energy of the busier, more image-packed paintings. The watercolours similarly contrast with the oil works, with her inspiration coming from sublime or retreat like places.