Artist Samantha Louise Emery creates extraordinary portraits inspired by wonderful women. These female muses are the women who have inspired the artist through different stages throughout her life.
Spanning from an Anatolian vegetable seller IKONA 6 Sadiye to Grammy Award winner IKONA 1 Laurie Anderson, the diverse group of women the creative polymath depicts in her portrait series IKONA | Mirrored Interior are either close to her or have impacted her life in a major way. Each multimedia piece is symbolic of human awareness and the feminine condition.
A portion of all income from the work is donated to the Working Chance charity and the Malala Fund. Working Chance is the only recruitment consultancy for women leaving the criminal justice and care systems. The Malala Fund works to give all girls the chance to an education.
The muses in the series are
• IKONA 1 Laurie Anderson, creative pioneer and Grammy Award winning musician
• IKONA 2 Angelique Kidjo, Fearless activist and Grammy Award winning singer
• IKONA 3 Sadiye, matter of fact, maternal Anatolian vegetable seller
• IKONA 4 Germaine Greer, author and outspoken feminist
• IKONA 5 Alanis Obomsawin, spokeswoman for Native American and women’s rights
• IKONA 6 Krystyne Griffin, prominent fashion designer and godmother
• IKONA 7 Caitlin Moran, columnist and candid comedian
• IKONA 8 Jane Goodall, conservationist and impassioned animal rights activist
• IKONA 9 Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize winner and ardent activist for women’s rights
• IKONA 10 Lucy, talented artist Samantha Louise Emery
Samantha Louise Emery has now returned to her studio in Bodrum, Turkey to prepare for her new series of inspirational portraits IKONA | Wise Women. Her creative process takes nine months to culminate.
London born Emery completed her Ceramic and Design degree at Central Saint Martins in 1992. In 1991, she won an award at the Young People’s Film & Video Festival for her short film Night Shift inspired by the work of Sylvia Plath. Emery then moved to Canada and debuted several series of paintings which she exhibited in Toronto and New York. The multimedia artist splits her time between the UK and her studio in Bodrum, Turkey, her spiritual home.