Emma Vidal

The work of Emma Vidal explores a post-apocalyptic world in ruin. Her practice, taking the form of charcoal drawings, sculpture and moving image, balances both the will to survive in such circumstances and the vulnerability of the human body. Vidal re-imagines a future world as a place whose inhabitants consist only of wild children and where Mother Nature is claiming back her own territory. Vidal is influenced by spiritual experiences from her Catholic upbringing and her travels, and is particularly concerned with ideas of religious symbolism, ritual and cult.

The artist’s use of charcoal utilises the material’s unique abilities to capture expression with a fragile and quivering stroke of her hand. The totemic three-dimensional works Vidal creates reference a range of historical, cultural and visual objects from around the world, mixing styles from disparate places and periods.