After graduating with a fine art degree in 2005, Emma moved to Umbria in Italy, where her love of figurative painting blossomed at a studio once used by the High Renaissance painter Raphael. She went on to hold a solo exhibition of 38 portraits at the Watts Gallery and appear as a contestant on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, where she painted the film star Richard E. Grant.
Her work is also owned by the British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies. Spiralling across each of the large-scale paintings from her Afterglow collection is a seemingly chaotic entanglement of neon wires. Allegorising not only the complexity of our thoughts but the digital information we receive and process on a daily basis, these bursts of light illuminate the female subjects whilst deepening the darkness they inhabit.
The scale is deliberately larger than life to impose and make us confront the feelings of the women. Emma says: “On reflection, I’ve been painting little parts of myself – trying to work it out in a whirlwind that’s been spinning me hard. This is where I am most me, where I thrive and where I feel most alive. Everything else feels like white noise.”
Some of Emma’s earliest memories are of her with a paintbrush in her hand or drawing on her bedroom wall. After graduating with a fine art degree in 2005, she moved to Umbria in Italy with a rucksack of art supplies. It was here, at a studio once used by the High Renaissance painter Raphael, that her love of figurative painting blossomed.
Upon her return, Emma held a solo exhibition of 38 portraits at the Watts Gallery in Surrey. She went on to appear as a contestant on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, painting the film star Richard E. Grant. Her work is also owned by the British Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies. She is moved by a compulsive urge to create and the challenge of capturing an emotion. For her, painting is as innate as breathing.
She loves the feeling of oil paint between her fingers and the way the colours move and blend. Through her artworks, she captures the juxtaposition of internal dialogue and outward portrayal. Emma says: “It’s finding a peace floating in the middle…this is where the beauty is. I love the Francis Bacon quote, ‘In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present’. I have embraced this fully, dancing with my demons the only way I know how – with my paintbrush in hand.”
Exuding vibrancy and sensuality, Emma-Leone Palmer's brand new ÉKSTASIS collection is unabashed and unapologetic, exploring our sense of self and the way we express who we really are through movement and light.
Through her fearless paintings, Emma-Leone Palmer explores the synergy of art, music and light; with rhythm pulsing through her veins, she has pushed the possibilities of oil paint to combine the canonical painting modes of the Renaissance with the hyper-neon colours of the 21st century. Contemporary yet classical, Emma’s figurative works draw upon the freedom of sound.
To create her hypnotic pieces, Emma fixes pliable lighting strips and neon wires to her subjects and takes hundreds of reference photographs before starting to paint. Using colours similar to infrared photography, the Surrey-based artist captures the futuristic otherness of the body by exploring each subject’s intimate connection with energy.
She is moved by a compulsive urge to create and the challenge of capturing an emotion. For Emma, painting is as innate as breathing. She loves the feeling of oil paint between her fingers and the way the colours move and blend.
Emma says: “My muses are currently all women…faces or personalities I find intriguing. I paint what I connect with, or what has me questioning…an allure, the way the light dances and caresses certain areas. I paint faces, although I like to say I paint expressions…not just what is on the aesthetic surface, but what is underneath. It’s the internal dialogue versus the external portrayal. The painting is only done when it starts talking back to me, like it has become more than me.”
Celestial, otherworldly and intensely intimate, the latest release from Emma-Leone Palmer’s Afterglow collection sees her ethereal female figures return for her first-ever limited edition prints.
Emma-Leone Palmer invites us to explore a supernatural negative space to navigate the neural pathways of our own minds.
Spiralling across each of the large-scale original oil paintings is a seemingly chaotic entanglement of neon wires. Allegorising not only the complexity of our thoughts but the digital information we receive and process on a daily basis, these bursts of light illuminate the female subjects whilst deepening the darkness they inhabit.
Exuding vibrancy and sensuality, Emma-Leone Palmer's brand new ‘ÉKSTASIS’ collection is unabashed and unapologetic, exploring our sense of self and the way we express who we really are through movement...
In February, the figurative artist took over our St Christopher's Place gallery in London for the launch of her stunning new ÉKSTASIS collection. We joined our team behind the scenes to bring you the lowdown on what really happens at an artist event
Celestial, otherworldly and intensely intimate, the latest release from Emma-Leone Palmer’s Afterglow collection sees her ethereal female figures return for her first-ever limited edition prints.
Putting our lockdown efforts to be productive to shame, Emma has been busy painting for the #PortraitsForNHSHeroes campaign and creating new works in her London studio. We got the lowdown for Fine Art Collector magazine.
In her stunning debut collection, Emma-Leone Palmer invites us to explore a supernatural negative space to navigate the neural pathways of our own minds.
Her debut collection stole the show at the grand opening of our South Molton Street gallery, which was the perfect time to reveal the figurative artist's hypnotic paintings.
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