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

https://www.ahness.com/journal/material-encounter-a-conversation-with-emma-shepherd-of-sundance-studio

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