INSIDE THE MIND

There is something beautiful about being able to visually grasp the grit of an artist’s inspiration by simply looking at their work. I tend to question a piece of art from each rough line down to the last sweeping stroke, digging deep for a key into the creative mind behind it’s beauty.  

But when I am sat face to face with the enigmatic allure of a photographed model with painted elongated legs, presiding over her aluminium background with painterly elegance and poise, I demand to know more. 

Cue Rosie Emerson. She is a British, London-based artist that delivers a clear synergy between art and photography with the most incredulous recipe. It is not enough to simply scrutinise her artwork to gain access into her world. Inside the studio, her product is the sum of her every experience. She paints with an organised tangle of inspiration. She directs photo shoots that are bleeding with the seductive power of the female form. She is spurred by fantasy and travels the world with the optical curiosity of a magpie. To look at Emerson’s skill is one thing, but to get into her mind is quite another. 

 I am defining her quest as transforming beauty into art. Armed with an illustrious photographer and the graceful elegance of her muse, Emerson’s blank canvas is a photo shoot where she unleashes the influences of fashion, artists, interiors, iconic figures, historical eras and enriched cultures to create a series of unique works. Each exudes the unwavering appeal and powerful silhouette of a woman, stamped with an uninhibited artistic technique and a mysterious aesthetic that is purely all her own. 

Sat in a movie theatre in Sydney, Australia, I am not watching The Campaign. I am conducting an interview, emailing Emerson back and forth across channels and oceans and a steep eleven hour difference in time. Here, I invite you inside the mind of a true artist; one with the most inspiring creative journey that has only just begun. SF

Words   | Frederica Caruana
Images | Rosie Emerson