Emily Hartley-Skudder’s work may be loaded with domestic, gendered, imagery that could be seen to depict ideals of life and home, but you’re unlikely to find her toiling in the kitchen. “I eagerly decorated my dollhouses and ‘played’ cooking and homemaking as a child,” says the artist, “yet my adult life hasn’t translated into this. I spend most of my time in the studio and it seems I would still rather play with representations of these objects and the ideas surrounding them, than with the real thing.”
Emily spends her days scouring secondhand stores and garage sales “obsessively searching and collecting found objects, mostly miniatures, toys and plastic trinkets”. She then assembles these commonplace items into still life arrangements, which are carefully lit and photographed. The images are then translated into intricate oil paintings.
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