Artist redefines the muse for International Women’s Day

In celebration of International Women’s Day 2020, an exhibition of Samantha Louise Emery’s ten contemporary muses will be displayed at Carousel in Seven Dials from Monday 2 March to Thursday 19 March.

Emery’s dreamlike, sometimes abstracted figures demonstrate that a muse’s vulnerability and power are more than skin deep. From Jane Goodall to the artist’s local Anatolian vegetable seller, the ten women in the IKONA | Mirrored Interior series have inspired Emery in different ways throughout her life. Emery’s work conveys a powerful message about female solidarity and empowerment, placing women at the forefront of her work and artistic process.

The artist created her ten original multimedia artworks using photography, digital drawing and photo compositing of her own body, followed by instinctively painting and embroidering directly onto the printed canvases. 

Emery is currently working on her next series IKONA | Wise Women which will showcase cultural activists, journalists and filmmakers amongst others, who through their work are inspiring women to rise to their highest potential.

London born Emery completed her Ceramic and Design degree at Central Saint Martins in 1993. In 1992 she won the award at the Young People’s Film & Video Festival for her short film Night Shift inspired by the work of Sylvia Plath. Emery then moved to Canada and debuted several series of paintings which she exhibited in Toronto and New York. The multimedia artist splits her time between the UK and her studio in Bodrum, Turkey, her spiritual home.