Emily Davies BA (Hons) Illustration with Animation
My practice focuses on capturing the fleeting transience of memory. My interest in academic writings on hauntology, psychogeography, and the distortion of memories through time has given me a lens of critical analysis which I apply to my illustration and printmaking practice. Whether it be responding to literature, documented conversations, or personal experiences, my stimuli and research always revolve around the remembered past. This focus allows my work to elevate beyond documentation, instead effectively visualising the act of recollection.
My drawing methods are based on the traditional study of visual symbols, compositional omissions and dynamic mark-making. I also transfer this approach into my printmaking practice, utilising intaglio and planographic print, such as etching, monotype, and lithography, to achieve a ghostly textural quality in line with the visual language of memories.
Although my approach to illustration is traditional in form, I am innovative in my inclusion of interactivity and passionate about the importance of handcrafted drawing. The success I have experienced in commercial projects in the early stages of my career reinforces the relevance of my visual language. I have exhibited and sold work in The Manchester Print Fair in 2019, Altrincham Open Studios’ ‘Art Circus’ exhibition in 2019, the inaugural exhibition at The Weavers Factory in 2019, and ‘The Open Exhibition’ at HOME in 2020. I was commissioned to illustrate the cover for ‘Lockdown: Lexicon & Legacy’, published by Church in The Market Place Publications, and my commissioned Broadside Posters for Manchester Poetry Library will be on permanent display in their building.
In my final degree project, I explored interactivity in conjunction with traditional drawing, creating panoramic drawings that document the fragments of Manchester as detailed in W. G. Sebald’s 1992 novel ‘The Emigrants. The immersive website that maps memories of these places through time can be viewed here: https://www.fragmentsofmanchester.com/
