ABOUT
The idea of shelter and the inhabitant is at the core of much of my work; how a person is shaped by the buildings they have occupied and how a person occupies their own psychological space. The word inhabitant contains the root habit (dress) and implies a habitat (dwelling) and my work often has this double function of being both shelter and clothing. The shelters are an expression of the layers that we surround ourselves with. Increasingly my work is worn or performed, using somewhat absurd spaces constructed specifically to fit my body. These constructions protect me and make me vulnerable in equal measure.
I am interested in exploring the temporary and the transient through reference to architecture and the body. I often use architectural forms in my work as it represents, for me, the most poignant example of transience; man’s attempt to create permanence and legacy through building. My work, which comprises documented performances, installations, drawings, artists’ books and sculptures, are often precarious and heavily dependent on the environment in which they are made and/or shown.
CV
Exhibitions
| June - July 2012 | Camp Out, Site-specific performance work for this exhibition at Laumeier Sculpture Park, St Louis, USA | March 2012 | Exterior Wall Commission, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool. A commission to create a sixth-month long intervention with the architecture of Open Eye's new gallery |
| January - July 2012 | Topophobia, Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London and touring to Bluecoat, Liverpool and spacex, Exeter |
| January 2012 | Flat Pack, a solo project at Hartington Road Gallery Open from 27th January - early February. |
| October 2011 | Sluice Art Fair, with Aid & Abet, London |
| October 2011 | Home, Core Gallery, London |
| July - Sep 2011 | MAKE SHIFT, Solo exhibition, Yorkshire Sculpture Park. |
| August - September 2011 | The Paper Cooperative, Spacex, Exeter |
| May 2011 | Dialogos Catalogue available online here, ASSAB One, Milan |
| April - May 2011 | Small Scale Survival, Aid & Abet, Cambridge. |
| April 2011 | Textures of Time, Frederick Parker Gallery, curated by MA Curating the Contemporary, London Metropolitan University & Whitechapel Gallery |
| December 2010 | ROAMING. HETEROTOPIAS , Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| December 2010 - February 2011, and travelling until 2014 | Hand, Voice & Vision: Artists’ Books from Women’s Studio Workshop , Grolier Club, New York |
| September 2010 | egg, nest, home, country, universe, curated by Paola Caravati, solo exhibition #5 in a series at Showreel, Milan, Italy |
| June - July 2010 | Liverpool Art Prize (shortlist), Metal at Edge Hill, Liverpool |
| April 2010 | Built, Rogue Project Space, Manchester |
| March 2010 | No ISBN, an exhibition of artists' books, Museum of Contemporary Art (Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst), Leipzig and touring throughout 2010 |
| Sep - Oct 2009 | from this filthy sewer pure gold flows, Supercollider, Blackpool |
| May - June 2009 | DRAWN IN, The Lost Soul and Stranger Service Station, Liverpool |
| April 2009 | Art Land, a site-specific art event, Bishop Auckland |
| November 2008 | Interchange: Cities on the Edge, Liverpool Biennial |
| November 2008 | Signs of Life, Liverpool & London |
| July 2008 | Façade, Gallery 33, Berlin |
| June 2008 | The Liar, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Bridewell Gallery, Liverpool |
| Nov 2006 - May 2007 | Sitting Room: artists' books, Manchester University Gallery touring to The Permanent Gallery, Brighton, Winchester School of Art Gallery, UWE Gallery and Another Room Book Arts, California |
| July-Aug 2006 | Drawn Out, Centre for Recent Drawing (C4RD), London |
| Nov 2004 | In Residence, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh |
| July 2003 | Yoke and Zoom, exchange between Japanese and UK artists, vending machine project in Tokyo, Japan |
Residencies
| March - May 2010 | A Curriculum at A Foundation, Liverpool |
| July – September 09 | European Capital of Culture exchange residency with Linz Kultur, nominated by Liverpool Biennial, Salzamt Atelierhaus Linz, Austria |
| Nov 07 – April 08 | AA2A Artist in Residence, Liverpool Community College |
| Sep-Oct 2007 | Artist's Book Residency at Women's Studio Workshop, New York State. Funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, with additional support from The New York State Council on the Arts. |
| Mar-Aug 2004 | Artist in Residence at Hospitalfield House, Arbroath, Scotland. Funded by the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh |
Awards
| 2011 | Bar-Tur Award shortlist |
| 2009/2010 | Feiweles Trust Bursary, Yorkshire Sculpture Park |
| 2007 & 2005 | Project Funding: Juliet Gomperts Trust |
| April 2004 | Project funding: Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund |
| May 2001 | John Kinross travel scholarship awarded by The Royal Scottish Academy to live and work in Florence, Italy |
Publications
| Sarah Coulson, Gordon Brennan, Laura Mousavi and Emily Speed, MAKE SHIFT, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, July 2011 |
| R. Klanten(ed), Doppelganger, Images of the Human Being, Gestalten: Berlin, 2011, pviii, 84 and 85. ISBN 978-3-89955-332-1 |
| Emily Speed, Books as Bridges (essay) in Hand, Voice and Vision, artist's books from the Women's Studio Workshop (ex cat), Women's Studio Workshop: Rosendale, 2010, p30 - 32. ISBN: 1-893125-78-5 | Emily Speed (ed), Cardboard Folly #1 THE FOLD, 2010, ISSN: 2044-9771 |
| Vision Discovery: Art, Vision Magazine China, May 2010, p26. ISSN 1671-3397 |
| Emily Speed, Unfolding Architecture, Women's Studio Workshop: Rosendale, 2007. ISBN 1-893125-24-6 |
Education
| 2005 - 2006 | MA Fine Art: Drawing, University of the Arts London: Wimbledon College of Art |
| 1997 - 2001 | BA (Hons) Drawing & Painting, Edinburgh College of Art |
Artist's talks and lectures.
| November 2011 | Artists' book workshops and artists' talk, University of Teeside, Middlesbrough |
| October 2011 | Getting Paid: Art Jobs, part of DIY Educate, Core Gallery, London |
| May 2011 | Artists' book workshops, University of Huddersfield, Barnsley |
| March 2011 | Artist's talk, Modes of Practice in an age of austerity, The Exchange, Stoke-on-Trent |
| March 2011 | Artist's talk as part of Creative Futures conference, Glyndwr University, Wrexham |
| March 2011 | Visiting lecturer with artist's talk, Saint John University, York |
| February 2011 | Visiting lecturer with artist's talk, University of Staffordshire |
| January 2011 | Panel member, Seminar on artists' books, Grolier Club, New York |
| December 2010 | Visiting lecturer with artist's talk, University of Teeside, Middlesbrough |
| February 2010 | Artist's talk and practical workshop on artists' books with BA Fine Art & Illustration students, Blackpool and Fylde College. |
| December 2009 | Visiting lecturer with artist's talk, Professional Practice series, Sheffield Hallum University. |
| October 2009 | Artists' Talk, May You Live in Interesting Times (Festival for Alternative Technology), Cardiff. |
| April 2009 | Artists' Talk, a-n AIR Open Dialogue event at Castlefield Gallery, Manchester |
| April 2009 | Panel discussion, IMT Gallery, London |
| March 2009 | Artists' Talk, Duke's Theatre, Lancaster, part of the 'Talks on Art' programme organised by Storey Gallery, Lancaster |
| March 2009 | Visiting Artist, University of Cumbria, Lancaster. |
Art in Education work
| May - June 2011 | Nooks & Grannies, a project working with local residents to create interventions and artworks in hidden and unexpected spaces, with Blackpool Council and the Grundy Art Gallery |
| Sep 2009 - July 2010 | Art as Environment, Feiweles Trust Bursary holder, working in schools around Wakefield for around 75 days, including primary, secondary and special schools, exporing self-portraiture through architectural models. |
| January 2010 | Make & Collaborate, a one week project with schools creating an installation at the Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool. |
| April - July 2009 | Leading a series of sculpture workshops as part of the Find Your Talent initiative, in youth centres in North Liverpool with a final week at Tate Gallery, Liverpool |
Writing, academic and other projects
| May 2010 | Artists' Livelihoods,a research paper commissioned by a-n magazine. |
| September 2009 onwards | Regular NEWS section contributor for a-n magazine. |
| June 2009 | Co-curated 'Dumb Objects' with Susan Massey, Wolstenholme Projects, Liverpool |
| May 2009 | Presented paper 'Inside, outside and in-between' on architectural and psychological space, art>space>philosophy Conference, Staffordshire University |
| January 2009 | Take the Floor, one day event with Wolstenholme Projects as part of the Fifth Floor exhibition at Tate Liverpool |
| November 2008 | Coordinated Artists' Book Fair Liverpool |
Collections
Tate Artists' Book CollectionManchester Metropolitan University Special Collection
University of West England: Centre for Fine Print Research Artists' Books Collection
Yale University
University of Delaware
Indiana University
Women's Studio Workshop, NY State
Rochester Institute of Technology
Vassar College
Virginia Commonwealth University
The University of Utah
Royal Scottish Academy
Hospitalfield Trust
Edinburgh College of Art
The University of Northampton; special books collection
Leeds College of Arts & Design