TRACEY EMIN (3 July 1963, Croydon)

CW: Mention of rape, abortion, cancer.

Artist Tracey Emin is an English multimedia artist, born in the early 60’s. She is part of the Young British Artists movement – a group of contemporary British artists who exhibited together in the late 1980’s. Other names in this group include Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst, and Gary Hume.

Famously known for her piece ‘My Bed’ (1998), Emin’s art throughout her career has caused many controversies due to the shocking autobiographic nature of her work. She is known for these brutally honest works, expressing tragedies and pain throughout her life. From an early age, Emin faced many emotionally challenging events, written in her book titled ‘Strangeland’. She tells of living in poverty with her mother and twin brother after their father abandoned them taking all their money, and being raped at age 13, around the same age she had left school.

Following this, Emin studied at the Royal College of Art in London where she achieved her MA in painting. All of the work created during this period was destroyed due to a breakdown after two abortions – a subject which she has used multiple times in her work since.

Now overcoming cancer, Emin talks of dealing with the idea of death, suffering, and recovery. Emin is very clear that her perspective on life has since changed since, and that she now wants to solely focus on love. “At my age now, love is a completely different dimension and level of understanding,” – Tracey Emin, October 2020.

TAPESTRY & BLANKET/QUILT WORK:

Emin’s tapestry style hanging blankets usually represent a particular emotional connection or time in her life – expressed through rows of text speaking of subjects such as love, pain, and feminism. These large tapestries are a collage of text, material and shapes sewn together, and are often displayed hanging on the walls of a gallery space.

As aforementioned, this work too fits the reoccurring themes of fearlessly honest subject matter, telling the story of Emin through short sentences and words. Using a quilt as the base for the applied text has many connotations relating to womanhood and childhood. The plush material is formed using multiple layers of padding and fabric, relating to the feeling of comfort and protection. Emin creates an oxymoron by using explicit text and mature themes on these quilts – making each work more striking.

I am inspired by this counteractive idea of using materials with specific connotations, combined with opposing text/imagery. I plan to work with this technique in my current college project. I am also fond of the unapologetic size of each work – it is not timid and wants to be seen and read. This establishes the importance Emin’s work, implying that she is not ashamed of her past life – and wants to deal with life’s problems through expression.