Tracing Absence brings together works by several artists who find reflection in empty spaces where human presence is silently implied. 

Abandoned objects, rooms and buildings, empty roads and lonely horizons become ambiguous scenes, to which only a trace of life that came before or after is alluded. Depictions of interiors by Patrick Caulfield, Paul Winstanley, Hurvin Anderson and Paul Noble are pointedly devoid of people. In their works a sense of melancholy, or in the case of Noble, urgency, pervades the human story that is hinted at having unfolded. Stepping outside, works by...

I am pleased to announce Towner Eastbourne is presenting my first solo exhibition in a major UK institution. Melting Ice | Rising Tides looks at the warming environment of the polar regions and the impact this is ultimately having on the changing UK coastline. For a number of years I have been observing and recording the precariousness of the polar ice sheets and glaciers and the profound effect that ice melt is having on global sea level rise.  

The exhibition A Meeting with Eldfellmarks the 50th anniversary of the volcano’s birth in 1973. Throughout its short geologic life, Eldfell and the story of its eruption has inspired people around the world. They have approached the volcano from their own perspectives, to get to know and sense this remarkable place. The exhibition brings together work from over twenty Icelandic and international artists, writers and researchers exploring Eldfell; alongside significant scientific and archival material such as the first seismogram indicating the eruption, volcanic core samples and...

Emma Stibbon in conversation with Freyda Spira, Robert L. Solley Curator of Prints and Drawings, Yale University Art Gallery. 

Live link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3PtnhGeVyI

Following a residency in Death Valley in 2019 Emma Stibbon made a body of drawings and prints that look at the deserts and infinite horizons of the American Southwest. This is the first survey of the artist’s work made in the Californian desert.

A conversation between Emma Stibbon and Derrick Cartwright, Associate Professor and Director of University Galleries is recorded in the booklet Desert Sublime. 

https://www.sandiego.edu/galleries/visit/

To view the Desert Sublime booklet as a PDF please click here.

The exhibition showcases contemporary printmaking and The Ink on Paper Press, founded in Wiltshire by artist and editioner Amy-Jane Blackhall in 2015. All the works featured in the exhibition were printed at The Ink on Paper Press. Works included by Emma Stibbon, Ann Christopher, Celia Cook, Ian Chamberlain, and the late Michael Pennie. All of the prints on show were recently acquired through the Golder-Thompson Gift to Chippenham Museum in Memory of Arthur Norman. Accompanying catalogue available.

https://www.chippenham.gov.uk/chippenham-museum/exhibitions/

Vanishing Point presents a body of watercolours, ink drawings and prints by Emma Stibbon exploring both the elemental forces that shape landscape, and the impact of human intervention and its traces. The exhibitionfocuses on the constructed, built landscape carrying the weight of history, set against a rapidly changing Polar environment. The work infers both the narrowing focus of a historical perspective and the literal disappearance of the Polar ice caps.  

https://www.bastian-gallery.com/en/exhibitions/emma-stibbon-vanishing-point/

Photo credit:Xinru Hu

Image credit: Emma Stibbon,...

A focused display in the Collection Gallery Cabinet centres around Emma Stibbon’s large-scale woodcut Collapsed Whaling Station, Deception Island, Antarctica. Drawn to environments that have been shaped by both the elemental forces of nature and the impact of human endeavour, Stibbon’s woodcut is accompanied by a selection of prints, drawings and photographs that resonate with this theme and highlight how ruination, extreme conditions and the fragility of place have long been a source of inspiration for artists. Collapsed Whaling Station, Deception Island, Antarctica is Stibbon’s...

Earth: Digging Deep in British Art 1781 – 2022 is a major exhibition spanning four centuries of artwork. Earth examines how attitudes towards landscape have evolved over the centuries and how artists approaches have changed over time; from the pastoral idylls of the 18^thcentury, through representations of the Romantic Sublime, to present-day confrontations of the climate emergency.  

Exhibiting artists: Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Samuel John Lamorna Birch, William Blake, Mary Buckland, Edward Calvert, Edward Chell, George Clausen, John Constable, Edward William Cooke, John Sell Cotman,...

The group exhibition brings together contemporary positions on the theme of ice. From landscapes of romantic yearning, scientific approaches through to the history of ice cream, the exhibition presents  a wide spectrum of works. The subject however, acquires a new and disconcerting impact in view of climate change and the global impact of disappearing ice at the North and South Poles.

Participating artists: Valentino Biagio Berndt and Marlon Lanziner, Marja Helander, Anastasia Mityukova, Carsten Nicolai, Emma Stibbon, Fridolin Walther and Jun Yang.

The exhibition and accompanying book chart how Britain emerged from the post-war years and thrived in the early 1960s, navigated the social changes of the 1970s and 1980s, and saw the ascendency of contemporary British art from the 1990s to the present day. From wood engravings and etchings to lithographs and screenprints, printmaking enabled artists to expand their practice and explore new creative possibilities. Showcasing a wide range of artists, styles and techniques, this exhibition celebrated the upsurge of printmaking from the 1960s to the present day. The works in the exhibition...

In Search of the Sublime is a 44 minute BBC 3 radio feature.

LISTEN TO THE PROGRAMME

As the Alps undergo visible changes due to climate warming, the programme follows Emma to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in France. Highlighting how the Mont Blanc region has a long history of science, alpine climbing and artistic pursuit, it is now undergoing dramatic glacier retreat due to climate warming.  Whilst conducting her own fieldwork in Chamonix, Emma explores the rich history of British landscape artists who came to the region in search of the Sublime. In the 21st-century, Emma argues, we can no longer...

The immersive drawing 'Wild Fire' was installed at the Centre of Gravity, a group exhibition at Soapworks in Bristol. For the exhibition Emma Stibbon created a five metre wide wall drawing ‘Wild Fire’ depicting the aftermath of a forest fire. Drawn in charcoal, partially recovered from a recent forest fire in Wareham, Dorset, her monumental drawing includes 3D elements of salvaged burnt conifers.

In 2019 the UK had more wildfires than any year on record and these are getting more frequent – a stark reminder that with climate warming uncontrolled forest fires are now increasing...

The short film 'Drawing Matters' highlights the central role drawing plays in Stibbon’s art and practice. Her editions start life as drawings made whilst traveling before being worked up in the studio and turned into plates. Stibbon's talents as a print maker lie in her ability to capture the fluidity and spontaneity of her drawing practice within the printed surface. This online exhibition showcases the beauty and dynamism of these works alongside the drawings that inspired them.

Visit the online viewing room here

View the video here

Cristea Roberts present two new prints by Emma Stibbon, alongside recent graphic works, depicting some of the most environmentally vulnerable parts of the world. In September 2019 Emma Stibbon undertook a residency in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, situated in the Arctic Ocean. A short film accompanies the Viewing Room. Stibbon’s residency at Artica studio, Longyearbyen, Svalbard was supported by The Queen Sonia Print Award.

Click here to access the Viewing Room

Click here to see the video

The Big Draw announces Emma Stibbon RA as The Big Draw's newest Patron. In 2020 The Big Green Draw Festival #ClimateOfChange focuses on the relationship between people and our living environments and ecosystems. In celebration of #EarthDay2020 the Big Draw have created a short film with Emma where she demonstrates using one of her favourite drawing mediums, indian ink, and talks about her practice.

You can view the video by clicking here

You can read the interview with Emma on the Big Draw website by clicking here

Solo Exhibition: Rabley Drawing Centre

Exhibition celebrating twenty five-years of Emma Stibbon printmaking career. Launch of a new monograph book on Emma Stibbon’s printed work. 

https://rableygallery.com/artists/emma-stibbon-ra/109001

Publication available to purchase:

PUBLICATION AVAILABLE TO BUY

Solo exhibition: Cristea Roberts Gallery, London

The exhibition documents Stibbon's fieldwork and journeys that have taken her from the frozen extremes of Antarctica to volatile landscapes, such as Hawai'i, which have been shaped by volcanic activity . Sketches made during her travels and ephemera will be displayed alongside drawing and prints made in Stibbon's studio. The exhibition marks the release of a book of the same name published by the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Cristea Roberts Gallery

Group exhibition: Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

The exhibition traces the representation of fire in British art across the last four centuries; exploring the symbolism and meaning the element has had for artists throughout history.

RWA

Group exhibition: Kunsthalle Rostock 

An exhibition documenting the Palace of the Republic, the seat of the GDR's Volskammer and public cultural centre that was controversially demolished in 2006 to 2008. The exhibition uses a variety of approaches including a display of contemporary art, to open up public discourse on a shared memory. 

Kunsthalle Rostock

Group exhibition: Sprengel Museum, Hannover

An exhibition of four artists who deal with the topic of nature and organic structures. Work spans from the shimmering wood prints by Christiane Baumgartner, to delicate, surreal watercolors by Anke Röhrscheid, obscure plant pictures by Miron Schmückle to exploratory ink drawings and prints by Emma Stibbon. 

Sprengel Museum

Solo exhibition: Cristea Roberts Gallery

'Volcano' features large drawings and a monumental woodcut and explores the dynamic terrain of volcanic landscape. The work is made in response to Stibbon's residency on the rim of one of the world’s most active volcanoes where she was artist in residence at Hawai’i...

Solo exhibition: Galerie Bastian, Berlin

An exhibition of large-scale drawings and prints, based on Stibbon’s field observations of volcanic features in volatile environments; flows of molten rock, eruptions, steam vents and fault zones. The remarkable power and scale of this environment presents a dangerous beauty.  In her drawings Stibbon adds volcanic ash, gathered in the field, to her media. By linking the physical and metaphorical dimension to materials, she considers how they have properties of their own and the connection between process and place.

Galerie Bastian