Emma Stibbon

Emma Stibbon studied at Portsmouth College of Art, Goldsmiths College and the University of the West of England. An award-winning artist with an international reputation, she participated in Arctic Circle 2013, an art and science expedition to the Arctic Circle.

Drawing is the heart of Emma’s practice and she has travelled widely, recording her responses to the physical appearance and psychological impact of natural and built environments. Working from sketches and photographic records, Emma creates stark, monochrome, often large-scale works on paper. Romantic in character, they dramatise the effects of human intervention and natural phenomena on monumental structures and explore the fragility of existence.

Title: Wills Tobacco Factory, Raleigh Road

Medium: Print

Date created: 1996

Donated by: John and Carol Hubbard, 2008
Title: Broken Terrain

Medium: Print

Date created: 2017

Donated by: Artist, 2020

Important information: Stibbon writes 'My work is driven by an inquiry into how our surroundings are shaped by seismic activity and the dynamic forces of nature. In order to witness volcanic terrain first hand I participated in a residency with Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in 2016 which allowed me to live on the crater rim of Kīlauea, Big Island, Hawai’i, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Broken Terrain is made in response to Kīlauea Iki, a pit crater that lies next to the main summit caldera of Kīlauea. The image looks at the dramatic formations that were created when the upward pressure of the molten lava within the lava flow pushed the overlying crust, breaking the lava pavement. Walking on the crater floor presented an unstable ground. This image was made in response to a combination of my on-site sketch-book drawings and digital photographs. '
Title: Ice Cloud

Medium: Print

Date created: 2019

Donated by: Artist, 2020

Important information: Emma Stibbon writes 'In viewing our natural environment I have long been fascinated by the Polar Regions, in 2013 I was fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to the Antarctic Peninsula as Artist in Residence on HMS Protector. Antarctica is a disorientating landscape with no reference points, almost mirage like. Passing through the strange, ethereal light certainly felt like one was travelling into an internal world. I wanted the work to reflect a feeling of reverie or introspection. I am interested in whether drawing can connect the viewer with the urgencies of our relationship with environment. The evident retreat of glaciers and ice shelves on the Peninsula area are of urgent environmental concern. This is both a landscape under threat but also a powerful force that puts a perspective on our own existence and other species.'