Flinders-based weaver Emma Shepherd practices one of the world's oldest crafts with a sensibility of an artist deeply embedded in her environment. Using yarns collected from all around the world allows Shepherd an opportunity to reflect on the deeper history of fibre, its role in human history and weaving's legacy as humanity's earliest algorithms in action. Thinking through the fabric, its strength and structure, as well as the ethos of Bauhaus textiles, Shepherd folds in colours resembling green foliage, the dark tones of tree trunks, the neutrals of the sand and the rock of her hometown, Flinders. Her work incorporates materials like pine needles, horsehair and bark taken from Shepherd’s immediate surrounds, letting them shape the work in a gentle yet deliberate way.
Shepherd lives and works on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, and has exhibited across the state, included in group shows, as well as having solo exhibitions at Brunswick St Gallery, Lon Retreat, the Craft Vitrine Gallery and the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery.
Find available works here.
Installation view of Sundance Studio : Taking a Thread for a Walk at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, 2024.
CV
EMMA SHEPHERD
b. 1997 Melbourne, Australia
Lives and works in Flinders, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria
EDUCATION :
2018 Bachelor of Arts (Textile Design) with Distinction, 2018
2016 Certificate 4 in Interior Design
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Taking A Thread for a Walk at the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery
2023 The Wilds at Lon Retreat
2022 A Meditation on Material at Brunswick St Gallery
2022 Equilibrium at the Craft Vitrine Gallery
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Small Works Art Prize at Brunswick St Gallery
2023 Repeat After Me at Stoker Studio
2023 Open House at SODA
2022/2023 High Summer at Mr Kitly
2022 Petite Miniature Textiles at Wangaratta Art Gallery
INTERNSHIPS
2019 with Esther Van Schulenberg, Belgium
2019 with Rachel Snack of Weaver House, USA
GRANTS
2023 : Malachi Theatre Hems and Valance project, complete in situ. Oberon, NSW
PRESS
2023 The Design Files
https://thedesignfiles.net/2023/11/studio-visit-sundance-studio-emma-shepherd
2023 The Provider Store
https://www.providerstore.com.au/blogs/journal/a-moment-with-emma-shepherd
2023 Ahness
2022 The Ninch
https://www.theninch.com.au/post/sundance-studio
2022 Aestas
https://www.aestas.com.au/blogs/the-journal/the-creative-women-series-emma-shepherd
2022. Bleu Design Store
https://bleudesignstore.com.au/blogs/journal/new-designer-sundance-studio
2022 Anyone Girl
http://www.anyonegirl.com/a-meditation-on-material/
TRAVEL
2023 Japan - Indigo workshop / weaving / traditional Japanese crafts with Bryan Whitehead (2 weeks)
2023 India - Cultural Textile Tour with Liz Williamson