Emi Avora is a Greek born, London trained and Singapore based artist. She studied at the RA Schools, London and Ruskin School, Oxford. She has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. Solo projects include the National Theatre of Greece Athens, South Square Arts Centre, 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 and the USA, including The Wonderful Fund collection and March collection. She has also been an Elizabeth Greenshields recipient and her work has been in publications including the New York Times, Future Now, Aesthetica Magazine and Defining the Contemporary, The Whitechapel in Association with Sotheby’s.
Published on February 24h, 2020. Artist responses collected in months previous.
What projects are you working on right now?
I relocated from London to Singapore end of 2018. Since then I built up a new body of work that has been influenced by my current environment here. I perceive my relocation as an art residency and so far it has been very inspirational. Some of the work will be shown in some Art fairs this autumn. Also there has been some interest in the press and online. The move to Asia gave me a great push to explore new ways of working so I will be building more on to this current body of work. I feel there is a lot more to discover.
How do you keep yourself accountable in your practice?
I guess my practice is part of my being. I have responsibility for what I make and what I show and therefore I take it very seriously. However I don't forget to have fun with it too- its important to enjoy and take pleasure in the process.
How do you stay motivated to pursue your creative work?
My creative work is not only my profession but also a very important part of my life- one that I would find very hard to live without. Regardless of whether I have exhibitions on or not and regardless of other commitments, one part of my brain and my heart is dedicated to my practice. Having a studio space and actively seeking out opportunities helps to keep me going. The people I have been working with also motivate me to get to the studio and keep making.
Where do you hope to be 10 years from now and what would you like to say to yourself?
I am lucky to have had two children in the last four years however that has meant less time and a lot of interruptions in my practice. Apart from the sheer development of my work , the pleasure of painting, new discoveries and more uninterrupted studio time I would also like to be more active in showing and becoming part of an artistic community again whether local or global. Social media has given us the opportunity to discover artists' work from around the world and I would like to have a voice in that global platform.
What projects are you working on right now?
I relocated from London to Singapore end of 2018. Since then I built up a new body of work that has been influenced by my current environment here. I perceive my relocation as an art residency and so far it has been very inspirational. Some of the work will be shown in some Art fairs this autumn. Also there has been some interest in the press and online. The move to Asia gave me a great push to explore new ways of working so I will be building more on to this current body of work. I feel there is a lot more to discover.
How do you keep yourself accountable in your practice?
I guess my practice is part of my being. I have responsibility for what I make and what I show and therefore I take it very seriously. However I don't forget to have fun with it too- its important to enjoy and take pleasure in the process.
How do you stay motivated to pursue your creative work?
My creative work is not only my profession but also a very important part of my life- one that I would find very hard to live without. Regardless of whether I have exhibitions on or not and regardless of other commitments, one part of my brain and my heart is dedicated to my practice. Having a studio space and actively seeking out opportunities helps to keep me going. The people I have been working with also motivate me to get to the studio and keep making.
Where do you hope to be 10 years from now and what would you like to say to yourself?
I am lucky to have had two children in the last four years however that has meant less time and a lot of interruptions in my practice. Apart from the sheer development of my work , the pleasure of painting, new discoveries and more uninterrupted studio time I would also like to be more active in showing and becoming part of an artistic community again whether local or global. Social media has given us the opportunity to discover artists' work from around the world and I would like to have a voice in that global platform.
Find Emi Avora find Instagram