Emily Eldridge

Artist Statement

Emily’s expressionist works are created from her visual memory of a landscape; painting standing up, moving over large canvases for hours at a time layering paint with palette knives, sprays, inks an brushes. It’s a dance between her memory, the paint and the canvas. Emily’s first love was the land, she spent many hours climbing the fig trees on her grandfather's farm in Berry, NSW. Being alone on the land exposes magic moments shared between self and nature; these moments are translated in her paintings. Emily’s studio is nestled in a hectare of towering marri trees in the heart of Wadandi Boodja, only metres from the Wooditch (the Margaret River). Each day of painting begins by connecting with land. She walks, meditates and notices how the trees speak a language that fills us with hope and light. These moments are carried over to the studio, where bold paintings featuring metallic tones and southern ocean blues are layered in a loose and semi abstract manner. The metallic pigment reflects light, allowing each painting to change throughout the day in beautiful varying tones. Emily’s textural orbs featured in each painting are a common theme and are an energetic representation of the life force these landscapes hold. They are her ode to trees and the healing they offer us.
Series of Trees
My heart is deeply connected to the forest and land. Having grown up on farms and in the country, being connected to the earth is at the core of my being. It's the only thing that really makes sense to me in this over complicated, fast paced world of ours. Allow these pieces to prompt you to take a minute in your day to pause, breathe and remember the simple things in life are the most important. "I can tell my age by the height of trees, by the years they've stood, growing over me" Emily Barker, Songwriter.