Emily Stapleton-Jefferis

Emily Stapleton-Jefferis (b.1992) is an artist living and working in London. She works between drawing and making, with a particular focus on the use of clay. Craft skills remain integral to Emily’s practice as she pushes her material knowledge to pursue an excellence of making. She believes in the importance of hand-crafting, with such an act responding to our innate creative nature, often forgotten as our daily lives become increasingly digital. Her sculptural work primarily involves clay which she is drawn to as a result of its plasticity, tactility and intimacy within our daily lives. The rich history of ceramics, the very fact it lies beneath our feet, and the transformative qualities of the material are also a constant source of inspiration.

 

Emily’s current work draws upon the materiality of clay to explore states of flux and growth. “These sculptures come together to form a strange landscape, a bizarre dreamscape in which the works feels simultaneously familiar and alien. I am interested in exploring this tension and creating work which both confuses and comforts. Which seems caught in the act of becoming, and remains uncertain. Forms refer to both the anatomical and to the botanical, to the micro and the macro, to both our own landscapes and science-fictional worlds. Echoes of my touch remain embedded in the work, with my entire body involved in the shaping, and forming and moulding. My hands acting to channel my unconscious into physical form.”

 

Emily has recently graduated with an MA in Ceramics and Glass from The Royal College of Art. She has exhibited her work alongside fellow artists in a range of venues throughout London, notably in the artist-led space The Icing Room and at The Royal College of Art Degree show. She has previously undertaken an artist residency at The Kunstlerhaus, Neumunster, Germany, and has worked with potters in Ethiopia and Myanmar.  Alongside her making practice Emily works as an Education Artist at Camden Arts Centre delivering ceramic courses planned in response to the current exhibitions showing in the gallery. She has also worked as an Education Artist with The Crafts Council, and will soon delivering a project to school children in conjunction with The Victoria and Albert Museum.