Emily Kraus
American-born, London-based artist Emily Kraus creates works that can be read as abstract digital scriptures. Her work triggers questions about the vanishing division between the digital and real worlds, rewriting the definition of what it means to be connected and the ensuing implications on identity politics, faith, and the restrictions inherent to reformation.
About:
Portraying a complex socio-technological landscape of metallic glitches and malfunctions, the edges of Kraus’ canvases are softened by rich pastels that push the envelope of the aesthetic of oil painting. Her wide, patterned canvases resemble devices, switched on and bugged out. Though static, the works convey a sense of noise and movement, like a shuttering screen on the fritz. This is partly due to her process, which entails dancing around a squared-off shelter she builds from scaffolding and canvas. She creates a painting from inside itself, working squarely in sections that she manually shifts as she goes along. The finished piece is not revealed, even to her, until the shelter is dismantled, unwound, and stretched. Her playful rewriting of the traditional canvas to stretcher process allows her to work the canvas in its most vulnerable, supple state. Meanwhile, the process treads on the territory of isolation felt the world over, not just from being alone but from utter absorption into digital space.
Emily Kraus, Stochastic I, 2022. Oil on canvas, 170 x 300 cm.
Her work instantly brings the cyberfeminist manifesto to mind, Glitch Feminism, which proclaims that, whereas computer bugs are associated with failure, errors can represent revolution. This kind of progressive momentum is expressed through the phenomenality of Kraus’ canvases, their sheer size and dizzying pattern-like iconography commanding attention while triggering disorientation. They seem to make some kind of sense, yet simultaneously feel accidental–fluky. It's no wonder the series is named The Stochastic Paintings, meaning having a random probability distribution pattern that may be analysed statistically but may not be predicted precisely.
Emily Kraus, Stochastic II, 2022. Oil on canvas, 170 x 300 cm.
Kraus incorporates her diverse educational background into her paintings, which reflect her BA in Religious Studies from Kenyon College and further studies in sacred geometry, Buddhist philosophy and meditation, Hindu folk religion, somatic practice, Katonah yoga, and digital craft. Most recently, she received her MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in London where she devised her quirky canvas shelters, a resourceful solution to the lack of wall space in the school-appointed studios. Exemplifying that a person in need will find a way, working in shoebox-like studio conditions in London inspired her to find a creative solution that ended up expanding her practice. With elbowroom at a premium for more and more professionals, Kraus’ resourceful, enterprising spirit is an inspiration to anyone with big ideas in small spaces.
Emily Kraus, Stochastic III, 2022. Oil on canvas, 170 x 300 cm.
Emily Kraus, Stochastic I and Stochastic II installed at the RCA 2022 Degree Show.
Selected Exhibitions
2022
Timelines; Safehouse 1 - London, UK
A Body of Work; Grove Collective - London, UK
Shadows; The Stable - S-chanf, Switzerland
2021
Interior, Exterior; Sala Salon - London, UK
The Running Water Takes Me to a Farther Lake; Meisyakan - Ningbo, China
Identity; Yuan Art Museum - Hangzhou, China
Work in Progress; Royal College of Art - London, UK (online)
Selected Residencies, Awards and Publications
Dumfries House Residency; Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland
‘Feast: Holiday Now’ Magazine; Royal College of Art
Master Class w/ Antonio Lopez Garcia and Juan Jose Aquerreta;
Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
Finalist for Universidad de Navarra Prize
All images courtesy of the artist.
Camille Moreno
Features Co-Editor, MADE IN BED