Emma Camden
Born 1966
Resides Whanganui
Emma Camden, one of New Zealand's leading glass artists, creates glass pieces that play with light, form, and colour, producing artworks that seem to resonate from within. Working with the lost wax cast glass method, Emma creates both small and large works that radiate with the intensity of the lead crystal glass colours that her, and partner David Murray's, company, Melt45, specialise in.
This technique takes time and precision. Emma herself talks of the 'nasty laborious' stages of this process. Firstly, a work is carved out of wax and a mould made, the wax is steamed out of the mould which is place in the kiln with the correct amount of glass to fill it, as the glass heats and becomes molten it pours into the mould. The glass is then cooled, the mould removed, and the work revealed. At this point, Emma decides how the surface will be finished, perhaps using a water-fed sandblaster; a vat of hydrochloric acid; or polished by hand or in the kiln, all providing different aesthetic finishes that add to the narrative of each piece. It is heavy and time-consuming work, transforming the material into an artwork of timelessness with adherent alchemic qualities.
Emma likes to utilise light by creating objects that vary in density, "the works are heavy in weight, but some parts you can make thin and light…allowing the eye to go right through it." Playing with light and shadow Emma creates perspective and depth, leading the viewer around and, essentially, through a work.
The size and subject matter of her pieces vary and running through her oeuvre is the overarching theme of architecture. Emma uses this theme to explore topics that resonate both universally and personally, inviting the viewer to discover her winding stairwells, lofty towers, arching viaducts, monumental pyramids, connective passages, and her simple small structures that remind us of the quintessential and universal idea of 'home'.
Previously exploring the pyramid structure, Emma researched the Egyptian belief that shafts of light within allowed a soul to escape after death. In works like Passage, the unknown and the otherworldly can be explored and entertained within the simple abstract shapes.
As a student, Emma was interested in the metaphysical landscapes of painter Giorgio de Chico and his use of perspective to create architectural angles and spaces within an artwork. And throughout her practice, New Zealand photographer, Laurence Aberhart, has played a significant role in inspiring Emma's use of strong, simple angles and perspective. In The Central's 2024 exhibition Invisible Ties, Emma invited Laurence to exhibit alongside her. It was evident there was a connection between Emma's and Laurence's work that extended far beyond their visible angles and perspective.
Born in Southsea, England, Emma graduated from the Southampton Institute of Education in 1985 and completed a BA (Hons) in Glass with Ceramics at Sunderland Polytechnic in 1990. She moved to Auckland New Zealand in 1991 to work at Carrington Polytechnic, as a stained-glass tutor. In 1993, Emma enrolled in a masterclass, in Canberra, studying under renowned UK glass artist David Reekie, initiating her love of the lost wax cast glass method. She also worked with internationally renowned New Zealand artist, Ann Robinson, allowing her to consider working on a larger scale.
Emma has gained international and national recognition for her work and has received numerous awards including the Ranamok Glass Prize (Australia) in 1999. In 2016, Emma exhibited her mid-career survey exhibition at Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, Now: new and selected glass works, which also toured to The Dowse Museum, in Lower Hutt. She has been included in numerous group exhibitions over the years, and her work is in the collections of Auckland Museum; The Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt; Glassmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark; Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; and Te Papa Tongarewa, National Museum of New Zealand, Wellington.