The Faces of Love
Hindsight by Emma Prempeh
Last week I hopped on a zoom call with Emma Prempeh for her first ever sit down interview ✨ The British artist is quickly turning heads with her latest exhibition The Faces of Love at V.O. Curations. Here’s what you missed 💛
Addy: Emma, congrats on your new exhibition! So tell us about the Faces of Love.
Emma: The Faces of Love is my first personal series. Paintings about me and my experiences, relationships with family members, even relationships with my friend’s parents. For example, in one piece called Bereaved, it's actually my best friend's family, her mum passed away. We were quite close and just seeing her go through that was really emotional.
It was almost an exhibition to get over or grapple with the way I feel about different people in my life, men especially. It was kind of like a release, because when I finished painting, I thought, "Wow, this stage is over, I've done this."
I look at the pieces and think, "Forever, it'll be there." And "I can remember that time." That's what the Faces of Love is about. It’s different from [past exhibitions] when I was looking at just my family and that kind of generational aspect, the ties between my mum, my grandma and myself.
Addy: It feels very personal and very close to you. Almost like you're letting us in.
Emma: Yes, in very small ways. I try to think of my work as being not too obvious, kind of lightly touching [on themes]. That aspect of time and memory plays into that, very subtly.
Addy: In this exhibition you explore familial and romantic relationships, why did you decide to explore these themes?
Bereaved by Emma Prempeh
Courtesy of V.O. Curations
Emma: I think because it was what I was thinking about, what I was going through [at the time]. I thought, why not just paint what I'm feeling, instead of thinking about it in a way that is impersonal, or not a part of me.
I just thought, since I'm going through these emotions, just paint it. Think about how I [can] portray it in a clever way or in a way that maybe only I realise. There are aspects of [my work] sometimes that include diary entries, just little references to numbers that are very significant only to me. I thought, yes, this is the time and place. I need to do this now so I can just release [these feelings] and leave them alone. (laughs)
Addy: It's nice that you'll always have these works, to look back on that chapter in your life.
Emma: Yes. It's like, in my head, I'm thinking, "Should I have kept a piece?" My head of year, Alexandra, at the Royal College of Art, tells every single student to keep one piece of their work from every show. Next time, I want to keep a piece that's significant to me, so I always have that. Am I doing okay? I'm not sure.
Addy: Yes! Of course.
Emma: Okay, cool. (laughs)
Addy: Have you always known you wanted to be an artist?
Emma: I wanted to be an archaeologist when I was younger. I loved archaeology, I loved philosophy and creative writing. When I started to draw in class, I realised I had a bit of a skill for it. With art, I was able to write and be very theoretical with it. So I thought, I can implement all of these different aspects into art. I think when I was in year 10, I decided, "Yes, I'm going to do art, and I'm going to add a theoretical side to it, artefacts in a way, but that's how I decided I wanted to be an artist.
Addy: That’s really interesting. Why did you want to do archaeology?
Emma: I really liked digging up rocks when I was younger. It's weird, because when I think about it, I'm like “Why am I so into crystals?” (she’s very into crystals) I got this one when I was 11, this amethyst one. I think I got it from a magazine, and I really wanted to go on Time Team.
I just enjoyed that idea of digging up something old or finding something and then just believing that it's got some kind of significance. That's why a lot of spiritual aspects come into my work, in terms of birth charts and astrology. It’s quite prominent in the Faces of Love, not many people realise that. (laughs)
Addy: No way, my friend got me crystals for my birthday last year.
Emma: Is that Citrine? That's the one I want, it's a protective stone.
Addy: I don't know that much about them, but he picked them out so I keep them in my room.
Emma: Some people say it's a placebo effect, believing that the object has healing qualities and it makes you feel like you're being healed, and in turn, you start acting like you’re well again. I use it as a coping mechanism. (laughs)
Addy: That's actually really interesting. Okay, next question. How did your practice evolve over the course of your residency?
Emma: When I started my residency, I was thinking about my relationships with previous partners, and how lonely I felt. Then, Coronavirus came. Being in lockdown shaped the rest of the paintings, what I wanted to express. It made me think a bit more about death. Then everything that happened this year with George Floyd, just made me think about [the idea of] passing away. It didn't really come together until the end, coming out of lockdown.
Addy: It makes sense that the events of this year had a greater impact on your work. So, walk me through your creative process when you're in the studio.
Emma: My creative process starts from either a photograph or an emotion. With Forgetting, I wanted to forget this person. I thought, "What relates to that?" I use black paint a lot, not as a way to make things disappear or engulf [things]. Black just has this sense of stillness that I like. That's why I added that.
A Loving Contention, Forgetting by Emma Prempeh
Courtesy of V.O. Curations
I used the gold leaf, which, to me, symbolises something that disappears and disintegrates, because it's not real, it's imitation gold leaf. So either that or an emotion or an image of my mum, usually. [I think about] being in this present moment and about her at a stage [in her life] where I didn't even exist yet.
I like playing with the idea of painting her in a weird time warp, thinking about her before she was a mother, when she was like me. That's how my process goes. It's either a photograph or a feeling. Sometimes, I combine the two.
Addy: I love that. What do you find the most difficult about creating art?
Emma: Once you get the initial idea down, it's finishing. I am terrible at finishing. When I think about the pieces in The Faces of Love, I don't even know if any of them are really finished. I’m never sure when to stop or when to leave them. Usually, someone else is like, "That looks finished." So I'm like, "Okay, it's finished." Then, when I go back and look at them, I think “It needs something.”
After lockdown, when I could go back to my studio again, I kept drinking rosé (iconic), and just sitting there, looking at them thinking, "I don't know where this is going." It made me very emotional and I thought, "I really like this because now I can think clearly about what I want to add." That's the most difficult part. Finishing and thinking about what it needs and what it doesn't need sometimes.
Addy: So you feel like they’re predominantly unfinished works in a sense?
Emma: Yes. I'm trying to think about one specific piece where I know it was finished. I think that was a piece I made in college, which no one has ever seen. I don't know when it will happen or if it will ever happen, where I feel completely satisfied with something.
Addy: Maybe that’s more to do with being a perfectionist, because if you waited till they were finished, maybe we'd never see any of your work.
(laughter)
Emma: It's true. If I have a deadline, it forces me to just let them go. That's why I work better on tight deadlines. I feel like I should try to experiment. I have old pieces that I already thought were finished, that I want to experiment with. I guess they were finished and now I'm adding things.
Addy: That's really interesting. I guess when you add things, the works take on new meanings and become something else. Do you have a favourite piece of work that you've created?
Emma: No. (laughs) However, my favourite piece in The Faces of Love, if I had to pick something, would be Forgetting. That's because of all the emotion that went into it and the process. It just makes me think of a past time, I think that one's my favourite one.
Brief Encounters by Emma Prempeh
Courtesy of V.O. Curations
Addy: Is Forgetting more to do with romantic relationships?
Emma: Yes, romantic relationships and things ending. The idea of forgetting a person or thinking about someone that you met when you were young, even if it was a friend, and you can't actually picture what their face looks like [anymore], you can't remember what they feel like, or what they smell like. That's what that piece is about.
Addy: That’s so powerful.
Emma: Thank you.
Addy: Who and what are your greatest influences? Can be music, film, artists, anything.
Emma: This is going to be a jumble of people. I would say, Rembrandt. Rembrandt and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.
Rembrandt because of his use of dark colours and black, and how he never, ever made me feel like it was a full stop. I almost felt like I could step into his paintings and it wasn't uncomfortable. That's why I really enjoy looking at his work. When I try to think about black in terms of light and reflection, I like looking at Rembrandt.
Lynette, it's the dream-like quality to her work. They're really powerful because they don't have a place or some of them don't really sit on anything, you don't know where they are. That's why I don't really use any specific places in my paintings as well. That's a direct influence from her. In terms of films, Submarine by Richard Ayoade. I don't know if you know that film.
Addy: Yes, of course! It’s set in school.
Emma: Yes. (laughs) There's something really awkward about that coming of age. I don't know what it is about it, but I think about it a lot. He just made it so cleverly. Music, is a tricky one. I listen to quite a lot of neo-soul and quite a lot of foreign music as well.
Addy: That's cool.
Emma: I like the sounds, not even the words. More so the beat, [musicians like] Daughter.
Addy: I love Daughter. I have a Daughter vinyl actually.
Emma: Do you? I love Daughter because they have that weird ethereal kind of sound. There are a few other artists around that that I enjoy. Obviously, you've got Summer Walker.
Addy: Omg yes, I was listening to Summer Walker earlier today.
Emma: Really?
Addy: Yes, she’s so good.
Emma: She's very good. Moonchild, Sza. They all kind of fit well together. Those are my influences.
Windows of Emotion by Emma Prempeh
Courtesy of V.O. Curations
Addy: Cool. If you could have dinner with three artists, dead or alive, who would you choose?
Emma: Rembrandt. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too hostile. Roald Dahl because for some reason, I just love his books.
Addy: Which one was your favourite growing up?
Emma: Matilda.
Addy: Good choice.
Emma: Yes, definitely Matilda.
Addy: I was really scared of The Witches, then they made a film. That shit was so scary.
Emma: I watched that so many times. Also my great-grandmother, she’s not an artist but my mum always says, "Oh, you remind me of her.” It's just the fact that you don't know what this person looked like or what they did.
Addy: Yes, relatives and ancestors that you never met. It would be so interesting to speak to them, just to see what they were like or if you're alike in anyway.
Emma: Definitely.
Addy: Last question! What's next for you? (apart from your dissertation)
Emma: I hope that I can be involved in more group shows. I think I want to film a bit more. I’ve done that in the past with the New Contemporaries. I really want to do more film and projection. Hopefully, I'll be able to do that.
Addy: Amazing. Now for the rapid fire round! 🔥🔥 Impressionists or Old Masters?
Emma: Impressionists.
Addy: Satin or chiffon?
Emma: Satin.
Addy: Spring or autumn?
Emma: Autumn all the way. 100% favourite season.
Addy: Vintage or modern?
Emma: Vintage.
Addy: Clueless or Mean Girls?
Emma: Clueless.
Addy: Yes! What do you wish you were really good at?
Emma: Playing the piano.
Addy: Favourite song right now?
Emma: North Face by ODIE. I love the video, and the song, everything.
Addy: Cool. I'm going to find that on Spotify after this. Thanks so much Emma!
The Faces of Love has now closed due to new lockdown restrictions.
You can check out Emma’s latest works in the online exhibition ING Discerning Eye from 19th November – 31st December here!