Emma Brown
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
Emma Brown is a painter from Northern Ireland, based in Belfast. She is finishing her fine art degree and spent last year at the Academy of Fine Art in Helsinki. Brown paints in oil on linen and wood, drawing straight onto the canvas without a plan. She considers painting an act of worship and says it gives her a feeling of freedom. Lately she has been breaking canvases out of their usual shape, folding them, standing them up, the way altarpieces do. She has shown work in group exhibitions in both Belfast and Helsinki.
Q: First of all, tell us about yourself. You're quite early in your career and already painting between Belfast and Helsinki.
A: Hi, I am a 21-year-old artist from Northern Ireland. I am currently studying for my bachelor's degree in Fine Art in The Belfast School of Art and have been studying at the Academy of Fine Art in Helsinki over the past year for my exchange year. My practice is very personal, and my inspiration comes from my personal journey of faith and Celtic background.
Q: You've called painting an act of worship. What does that feel like in practice?
A: Yes, I consider my painting an act of worship to God. The fact I view my work as this does not necessarily change the way I approach my paintings. It is a very physical feeling, one that is comforting. Seeing my work as worship really helps me create without boundaries or expectation and gives me this feeling of freedom.
In practice it reflects my own personal relationship with God, using the gift of creativity. It is not something surreal or mysterious, but something familiar, natural and glorifying to God. My relationship with Him is the thing that I can always rely on in my life, and my practice. I think that viewing my practice in this way gives me a new light and way of thinking. It is not something that I'm doing for myself—it is something that is pointed towards Him.
Q: You start with no plan, drawing straight onto the canvas. How do you know when something is starting to work?
A: As I paint, I feel the shapes start to build naturally. They start to move almost on their own and expand. When something is starting to work, the colours are understandable and the painting becomes more readable, as it reveals itself to me. I find that my paintings can turn and contort a lot in a very short amount of time, going through a metamorphosis. I feel as though I am constantly shifting between the balance of too much or too little, subtracting and adding to the painting. Every painting is a new journey.
I get so caught up with the joy of painting and creating that time stands still. There is always a visible movement of the shapes within my work which reflects my playful approach towards creating. Shapes merge and grow; language and features start to appear. I love how shapes interact with one another, inviting new conversations.
Q: You paint on linen and wood, but you've mentioned wanting to push painting off the wall, into something more sculptural. Have you started doing that?
A: I have been starting to experiment with paintings which break away from the traditional quadrilateral shape and exploring other dimensions such as folding pieces.
This is interesting to me as it has connotations of both contemporary art and historical art such as church altar pieces with intricate details, yet they often aren't square or rectangular. Art like this brings about a different way of looking and seeing the piece. I have also been experimenting with paintings that stand on their own without the restriction of a wall or flat surface. This turns the painting into a more sculptural piece that can enhance surroundings into something unfamiliar yet ordinary like a piece of furniture, thus contradicting the painting itself. This experimentation is something that excites me and is helping me understand the boundaries and exploration of my own practice, as I realise I am not constricted by these flat surfaces.
Q: Your process sounds very physical, building shapes as you go. Does it ever feel more like sketching than painting?
A: Yes, much of the time it does feel like sketching, but painting is still the most important part of my practice. Sketching and painting go hand in hand on the canvas, as one allows the other to build. I often start with a solid or simple line on the surface, but the paint adds the depth and texture it needs to transform the piece.
