"A great silent space holds all of nature in its embrace. It also holds you."
"I have had a passion and a love of art, colour, flowers and the beauty found in nature for as long as I can remember.
I am exploring ways to paint and extend a two dimensional surface. I like to explore the traditional painter’s materials of canvas and paint. As well as the versatility of these materials by adding form, texture, colour and even shadow with the way I shred, weave, cut, layer and mould.
My works are inspired by a joyous connection with the natural environment. Tropical gardens and underwater reefs visually informs my composition. My flower gardens represent an ideal view, a window into a world that will always be flourishing, a place to escape and regenerate."
" The Bones of Painting stood out for its material exploration, retaining the shape of what appears to be a stretched canvas and cutting unique patterns into the surface. The installation also provides an interesting shadow play which really stood out for me" .
Ane Tonga Lead Exhibitions Curator
Roturua Museum
The Bones Of Painting – 2016 Miles Art Award Exhibition
Emma’s more recent work for the Miles Art Award continued to explore the parameters of painting. The Bones of Painting uses the two primary materials traditionally associated with painting, Gesso and Canvas.
She explores form and shape by cutting into the canvas. The shadows behind become an intrinsic interface collaborating with all the elements.
The flower gardens take several months to make. Unused, frayed ends of canvas are layered with paint to create texture. Elaborately painted flowers and foliage are assembled together to create a finished flower garden..
Emma gathers inspiration from different genres of still life painting. Dutch masters of the seventeenth century have influenced her recent vase and flower series.
Still life scenes are assembled with alternating painted backgrounds. Hand painted flowers and vases are created from canvas. Emma then assembles all the elements to capture a unique mood in a moment of time.
These images are available in high quality, Giclee limited edition prints.
Emma ships her original art works worldwide. The intricately constructed works are encased in a Perspex box.
I have two of Emma’s large works in my home – and I love them both. Emma Prill is a master of colour and her flower works are exquisite. They never cease to make my home and my day brighter.
- Sandra Power, New Zealand
Inside Out
"...A wonderful work, a liberal interpretation of what a painting can be. Using not only pigment on the form but also taking advantage of light. The feeling I get from the front of the work is very different from the shadow it leaves behind"
Felicity Milburn
2017 Molly Morpeth Award Exhibition, New Zealand
