|
|
Emi Avora is a Greek born, UK trained (Oxford University and Royal Academy Schools) and Singapore based artist. She has exhibited world wide with solo projects including the National Theatre of Greece Athens, South Square Arts Centre, UK, The Apartment Gallery, Athens, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York and Gallery Truebenbach, Cologne. She has participated in a number of group shows including Studio Voltaire, London, The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, The Whitechapel Gallery, London and the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki. Her work can be found in private as well as public collections in Europe, Asia and the USA, including The Wonderful Fund collection, Marsh collection, Central Bank of Greece collection. She has also been an Elizabeth Greenshields recipient and her work has been in various publications including ArtMaze Magazine, Create Magazine, Artist Friend, the New York Times and Defining the Contemporary, The Whitechapel in Association with Sotheby’s. She is one of the 2020 Delphian gallery open call group exhibition winners and she exhibited in Singapore at Nouri/Appetite, Singapore (solo) as well as JW projects and Art Seasons gallery (solo) Singapore. Her work recently featured in a show at D contemporary London. Current group shows are at a66 gallery, Mallorca and Yudian Gallery, Hangzhou.Emi Avora is a Greek born, UK trained (Oxford University and Royal Academy Schools) and Singapore based artist. She has exhibited world wide with solo projects including the National Theatre of Greece Athens, South Square Arts Centre, UK, The Apartment Gallery, Athens, Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York and Gallery Truebenbach, Cologne. She has participated in a number of group shows including Studio Voltaire, London, The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, The Whitechapel Gallery, London and the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki. Her work can be found in private as well as public collections in Europe, Asia and the USA, including The Wonderful Fund collection, Marsh collection, Central Bank of Greece collection. She has also been an Elizabeth Greenshields recipient and her work has been in various publications including ArtMaze Magazine, Create Magazine, Artist Friend, the New York Times and Defining the Contemporary, The Whitechapel in Association with Sotheby’s. She is one of the 2020 Delphian gallery open call group exhibition winners and she exhibited in Singapore at Nouri/Appetite, Singapore (solo) as well as JW projects and Art Seasons gallery (solo) Singapore. Her work recently featured in a show at D contemporary London. Current group shows are at a66 gallery, Mallorca and Yudian Gallery, Hangzhou.
Published on April 1st, 2025. Artist responses collected in months previous.
Talk about some of the logistics of your art practice. What systems do you have in place to help streamline your workflows?
One of the difficulties of working in Singapore is that it is very expensive to ship work out to other counties- I am getting around that by re-thinking the way I ship my work- rolling the paintings and sending in tubes is much easier (and safer) but I need to know a good framer on the other side who I can trust so they can stretch the paintings back flawlessly. I have also become very inventive with packaging and padding so that I can create the lightest but sturdiest package possible. What I have started doing lately is slowly build a stock of my work in Europe, some paintings I can use there so that I don't necessarily have to move them across continents. In terms of work flow- I tend to work in the studio continuously regardless of whether I have a show coming up- also in that way I do not stress so much against a deadline. But of course if I have a commission then I need to manage my time accordingly.
What is some advice for someone who does not have any experience who would like to pursue a career like yours?
An artist career is so versatile that it is difficult to give generic advice. It really depends on what they are doing, in what area of the creative market they want to be in, luck, geographical position and life circumstances. But I would probably warn them that this is a labour of love rather than a career. A career usually has a more or less clear pathway with neatly arranged stepping stones- a career in the arts doesn't have much of that. They need to love making art or rather not be able to do without it. It has constant ups and downs and it most likely will take time, so resilience and hard work are paramount. Going to art college can be vital as it can really help with finding one’s own artistic voice and jumpstart some art world connections but not absolutely necessary. Last but not least, learn from others, go to exhibitions and galleries, be receptive of the currents: not to copy, but to understand where your work can find its place.
What was the lowest point in your art career and how did you overcome those adversities?
My galleries and the people that supported my work either faulted or disappeared right at the time when I was pregnant with my first child. It was extremely difficult to get any visibility or anyone interested. I had no time to network and very little time to make the work. This affected me as I started doubting myself and my practice. I focused on my young family and decided not to worry. I experimented with my work and although I did not show for a long time I started gaining more confidence and joy in what I was doing. I moved countries which seemed like it was going to be even harder to find a network but actually this gave me a bigger push and excitement to build a new body of work. I utilised social media and just went to see galleries and shows and started showing some people what I was doing. There is always ups and downs and in the end what really matters is to find joy and excitement in your work.
How did you come into the type of artwork you are doing now?
In 2019 I moved from London to Singapore and that significantly affected my work. The way I paint and many aspects of my practice are similar to what I was doing before but the subject matter, colour palette and mood changed considerably. I used my observations and my surroundings but also pulled elements from my ancestry and background to compose a fictional space for the viewer. I came to be more interested in the encounter of Eastern and Western philosophies, also more inspired by the tropical nature where I currently live.
What was an epiphany in your art practice that took you to the next level?
Artists are often portrayed as geniuses that work feverishly after an epiphany. I personally don’t believe in epiphanies so much in art- I prefer to think that thoughts, experiences, experiments and observations sometimes organically pull together and bring an artist to a next chapter. I feel that period after maternity and moving continents was a period of a lot of things concentrating into my practice. I felt I re-discovered my voice using the threads from my previous work and that felt very liberating.
Talk about some of the logistics of your art practice. What systems do you have in place to help streamline your workflows?
One of the difficulties of working in Singapore is that it is very expensive to ship work out to other counties- I am getting around that by re-thinking the way I ship my work- rolling the paintings and sending in tubes is much easier (and safer) but I need to know a good framer on the other side who I can trust so they can stretch the paintings back flawlessly. I have also become very inventive with packaging and padding so that I can create the lightest but sturdiest package possible. What I have started doing lately is slowly build a stock of my work in Europe, some paintings I can use there so that I don't necessarily have to move them across continents. In terms of work flow- I tend to work in the studio continuously regardless of whether I have a show coming up- also in that way I do not stress so much against a deadline. But of course if I have a commission then I need to manage my time accordingly.
What is some advice for someone who does not have any experience who would like to pursue a career like yours?
An artist career is so versatile that it is difficult to give generic advice. It really depends on what they are doing, in what area of the creative market they want to be in, luck, geographical position and life circumstances. But I would probably warn them that this is a labour of love rather than a career. A career usually has a more or less clear pathway with neatly arranged stepping stones- a career in the arts doesn't have much of that. They need to love making art or rather not be able to do without it. It has constant ups and downs and it most likely will take time, so resilience and hard work are paramount. Going to art college can be vital as it can really help with finding one’s own artistic voice and jumpstart some art world connections but not absolutely necessary. Last but not least, learn from others, go to exhibitions and galleries, be receptive of the currents: not to copy, but to understand where your work can find its place.
What was the lowest point in your art career and how did you overcome those adversities?
My galleries and the people that supported my work either faulted or disappeared right at the time when I was pregnant with my first child. It was extremely difficult to get any visibility or anyone interested. I had no time to network and very little time to make the work. This affected me as I started doubting myself and my practice. I focused on my young family and decided not to worry. I experimented with my work and although I did not show for a long time I started gaining more confidence and joy in what I was doing. I moved countries which seemed like it was going to be even harder to find a network but actually this gave me a bigger push and excitement to build a new body of work. I utilised social media and just went to see galleries and shows and started showing some people what I was doing. There is always ups and downs and in the end what really matters is to find joy and excitement in your work.
How did you come into the type of artwork you are doing now?
In 2019 I moved from London to Singapore and that significantly affected my work. The way I paint and many aspects of my practice are similar to what I was doing before but the subject matter, colour palette and mood changed considerably. I used my observations and my surroundings but also pulled elements from my ancestry and background to compose a fictional space for the viewer. I came to be more interested in the encounter of Eastern and Western philosophies, also more inspired by the tropical nature where I currently live.
What was an epiphany in your art practice that took you to the next level?
Artists are often portrayed as geniuses that work feverishly after an epiphany. I personally don’t believe in epiphanies so much in art- I prefer to think that thoughts, experiences, experiments and observations sometimes organically pull together and bring an artist to a next chapter. I feel that period after maternity and moving continents was a period of a lot of things concentrating into my practice. I felt I re-discovered my voice using the threads from my previous work and that felt very liberating.
Find Emi Avora on Instagram
|
|