Family Artist-in-Residence: Emily Stapleton-Jefferis

London based artist Emily Stapleton-Jefferis (b. 1992) was our Family Artist-in-Residence during the Vivian Suter and Athanasios Argianas exhibitions. Taking inspiration from botanical and geological formations, Stapleton-Jefferis works between drawing and making, with a particular focus on the use of clay, to investigate the relationship between the microscopic and macroscopic, drawing upon the landscape and imagined science-fictional worlds.

Her current work draws upon the materiality of clay to explore states of flux and growth. The rich history of ceramics, the very fact it lies beneath our feet, and the transformative qualities of the material are a constant source of inspiration. Coiling clay slowly, Stapleton-Jefferis’s process is performative and durational, shaped by the entire body which becomes present within the work. Pieces rise from the ground, shifting, morphing and engaging the viewer with their human scale. They are a terrain of the body, of the landscape, of touch, of memory.

Stapleton-Jefferis holds an MA in Ceramics and Glass from The Royal College of Art, where she was awarded The Griffin Scholarship and The Eduardo Paolozzi Travel Award. She has exhibited her work alongside fellow artists in a range of venues throughout London including The Icing Room and the Modern Design Review Gallery and has undertaken artist residencies at The Leonora Carrington Museum, Mexico, at Hogchester Arts in Dorset, UK and at The Kunstlerhaus, Germany.

During the residency, Stapleton-Jefferis took up residence in the Drawing Studio and led Family Sundays, a weekly programme of workshops for families, leading creative activities inspired by the exhibitions.