EMMA CONEFREY

Emma is a visual artist based in Limerick.

Graduating from the Technological University of Shannon, Midwest with a BA Honours degree in Fine Art Painting (2020), she is currently studying advanced film and TV in Limerick College of Further Education. Shes completed other courses in milliary design and screen productions.

Her primary mediums are mixed media and painting. Frequently visited themes in her work are the body, physicality and mortality. She explores these themes through creating casts of body parts and then making replicas of these body parts using alternative recycled mediums.

The result is an uncanny depiction of a dismembered figure. Emma is influenced by artists such as Louis Bourgeois, Kiki Smith, Dorothy Cross and Damien Hirst. These artists often incorporate organic materials in their work. Kiki Smith in particular uses human and animal figures in her work.

Emma develops a large body of research to aide her practice. She enjoys learning the inner working of objects before creating an uncanny replica of the objects. She is currently working on creating a series of torsos which will be displayed on a wall. These torsos will be translucent and organs will be visible.

Emma uses recycled materials which otherwise would have been thrown away, in order to create her work sustainably. Materiality is a strong theme in her work. Using found and non-conventional materials makes the outcome unpredictable.