Surrounded by buckets of PVA glue and stacks of newspapers, Emmely Elgersma uses her studio like a surreal kitchen, concocting wonky sculptures and wobbly objects that look good enough to eat (but probably don't taste very good). Creating clay from kitchen products and papier-mâché out of household chemicals, Elgersma's work is rooted in her formal training as a ceramicist, just with a couple of jokes thrown in. The result is an exploration of what objects mean to us as human beings, be it turning an old tennis ball tube into a luxury functioning lamp or turning piles of disused packaging into a 14ft shark for a brewery in Scotland. Emmely is currently an artist in residence at the Sarabande Foundation established by Lee Alexander Mcqueen and has been awarded with a studio connected to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Using the recycling bin, Facebook marketplace or the streets of Stamford Hill to source her art materials, she has collaborated with brands such as IKEA, Adidas, Tiktok, Paynter Jacket and Clerkenwell Design Week. Currently, she's waiting to see if she's made it into the Guinness World Record books for making the biggest ever papier-mâché sculpture. It was very, very big. Too big, if anything. She received her FA Level 1 coaching qualification in 2020 which has resulted in her working as a coach for Spurs, Juventus and managing The Tate Workers football team so will happily tell you why 4-4-2 is more effective with a diamond and inverted wingers. The result is a joyous collision of colour, football, interiors and sculpture.
SCULPTOR, CERAMIST AND FOOTBALL COACH LIVING IN LONDON, ENGLAND.
EDUCATION
2015 - 2017 MFA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts
2009 - 2012 BA (Hons) Textile Design, Central Saint Martins
2008 - 2009 Art Foundation, West Notts College
GROUP SHOWS
2023 - Natasha Arselan Presents 'Land of Internal Wonders'
2023 - Bad Art Presents, Brushes with Greatness 'LTEF'
2023 - Saatchi Gallery: 10th Annual StART Fair
2023 - SOTA: Lab20
2023 - Christies, Picasso : A 50 Year Legacy
2023 - Thorpstavri X Haze Projects '2 FOR 1'
2023 - The Auction Collective, Ceramics & Craft Studio Sale
2023 - OOF Gallery 'The World of Gazza'
2022 - Trobat: Juxtaposition, Mallorca
2022 - Collection01, Atelier 100
2022 - London Design Festival: Unfamiliar Forms, SET
2022 - Splash: Ode to Hockney, Art Untamed
2022 - Bad Art Presents: Let Them Eat Fake, Bomb Factory
2022 - Felt Collection 02, Peckham Safe House
2022 - My Pink Moisturising Dream, Crate Space, Margate
2022 - The Football Art Prize, Touchstones Rochdale
2022 - WOP4 - Blue Shop Cottage
2022 - The Function Suite, Hackney Den
2021 - Delphian Gallery + Thorp Stavri, The Factory Project
2021 - Patterns of Play: Football Crazy, Football Mad, Hoxton
2021 - Dreamland: w/ Lisette Van Hoogenhuyze, 213 Kupfer
2021 - Office: w/ Jo Kitchen, Landsdowne House, Mayfair
2020 - Private Lounge 116, The Columbia Hotel, Kensington
2020 - Mettle, The Function Suite, Stratford
2019 - Ultra: Art for the Women’s World Cup, J Hammond
2019 - BIRD IN A BIRD IN A BIRD: w/ Winnie Hall, Art Lacuna
2019 - ArtWorks Open, Barbican Arts Group Trust
2019 - Welcome Home, Healing day, Elephant West
2019 - PUB duo show w/ Jo Kitchen, Function Room
2018 - Royal Academy 250th Summer Show
2018 - Art Car Boot Fair - Granary Square Kings Cross
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 - Rock, Paper, Kiln - Sarabande Foundation
2023 - Sanqvist Repurposed, Berwick St
2022 - 28 Lamps, Changing Room Gallery, Soho
2019 - The Biggest, Limbo Gallery, Peckham
RESIDENCIES
2023 - 2024 Sarabande Foundation
2022 - Anderson Contemporary, Hackney Wick
2021 - PADA, Portugal
2021 - Blue Shop Cottage X Amassa
2021 - RES004, Changing Room Gallery
2019 - Elephant Lab, Elephant Magazine
COLLABORATIONS & ART DIRECTION
Warren Schoenbright - Christquake
Cosentino, Clerkenwell Design Festival
End of The Road Festival, Piano Stage
Brewdog, Dogtap Ellon '14ft Shark'