Emma John

emmajohnstudio@gmail.com

I draw compositions from observation to give shape to internal feelings and urges using oil paint. The geometries of the world become the physical body of the painting within which sensation springs, much like the eyes allow for sight and the tongue allows for taste. As the world filters through my own eyes, brain, heart and hand, it sublimates into vaporous, shifting images. The residue of experiencing the weather, or the light from the meadow are things I cherish but inevitably lose touch with as I enter the studio. I build up pigment and carve back into it, searching for these sources again. I choose oils for the slowness they demand. They force my hand to remember. Playing with matter and the possibilities of paint is a proxy for dealing with transformation and the ever-changing nature of life. As I work, I seek to conjure an aura of being alive.

EDUCATION

2025

NYC Crit Club, The Canopy Program 2.0

NYC Crit Club, Visiting Critic Program

2024

NYC Crit Club, The Canopy Program

Turps Art School, Correspondence Course

2023

Turps Art School, Correspondence Course

2022

Chelsea College of Arts, Graduate Diploma with distinction

2014

University of St Andrews, Social Anthropology with honors

SELECT GROUP SHOWS

2025

2025 Biennial, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME

Earthy Glimmer, Perimeter Gallery, Belfast, ME - curated by Meg Hahn

Art Show! 2025, W.O.L.F., Walpole, ME - curated by Dyer Rhoads

Summer Show, The Parsonage Gallery, Searsport, ME


2024

Art Show! 2024, W.O.L.F., Walpole, ME - curated by Dyer Rhoads

Ten by Night, The Canopy Studio, New York City, NY

Ten Thousand Sprats to Apprehend a Whale, Pascal Hall, Rockport, ME

ARTPM, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, ME


2023

Daybreak, 82Parris, Portland, ME

Housewarming, 82Parris, Portland, ME

The Final Spin, New Systems Exhibitions, Portland, ME


2022

Between Paper and a Hard Place, Lungley Gallery, London, UK

Degree Show, Chelsea College of Arts, London, UK

I’m In It!, Safehouse 1 & 2, Maverick Projects, London, UK

BOG[art], The Morgue, Chelsea College of Arts, London, UK

Nexus, The Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Arts, London, UK


2021

Solstice, Chelsea College of Arts, London, UK

ARTPM, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, ME

PRESS