by Emily Crockford
Karingal Underpass, Kingsgrove
I love to imagine the creatures under the water and the possums sitting on the trees looking at the house. I love foxies in the tree and owls having a happy life.
Emily Crockford (Studio A) has transformed Kingsgrove’s Karingal underpass into an immersive art experience using large-scale painting and lighting installation.
Titled Oyster’s Eating Rainbows, this work will create a natural wonderland within the tunnel environment. It is inspired by the ecological abundance and diversity of the area and its waterways: the birds, fish, yabbies and oysters. It is also a reminder of the fragility of these habitats and the importance of preserving our skies, branches and riverbeds for future generations to come.
Bold, assured and sensual - all words that describe the work of Emily Crockford. No matter what she turns her eye to – whether it be the natural environment, Australiana or people within her orbit – she transforms it all into a lyrical universe of bold colour and intricate pattern. Bright hues sit alongside areas of fine detail; passionate energy exists simultaneously with areas of contemplation.
Emily has a long exhibition history and has been awarded a number of major public art commissions: a 39m mural for Westpac Banking Corporation (Concord, 2018); two works for the City of Sydney Creative Hoardings Project (Midnight Zoo, 2019 & Sydney Opera House at Night, 2017); a 175sqm collaborative mural for University of Technology Sydney (Bird Life Jungle Disco, 2019); a hoarding for Lendlease at Barangaroo (Garden Pop Bird Bop, 2020); and an 81.5 metre mural for the WestConnex M5 motorway, with Cultural Capital, titled Oysters Eating Rainbows (2020).
No matter what she turns her eye to – whether it be the natural environment, Australiana or people within her orbit – she transforms it.
Emily is a finalist in the 2020 Archibald Prize with Self Portrait with Daddy in the Daisies watching the field of Planes. The portrait depicts her late father John Crockford who passed away in January. In 2019 her portrait Funky Jungle Rosie in her Pom Pom Zoo, was selected for the Salon des Refusés exhibition at S. H. Ervin Gallery, Sydney. In 2018 she was invited to exhibit in Cement Fondue’s inaugural exhibition Suburbia, and in 2017 she was curated by Daniel Moodie Cunningham into a group show titled Good Neighbours at Art bank, Waterloo. Emily has been an artist-in-residence at Cicada Press at UNSW Art & Design and Kostelac and has collaborated with several established designers including Corban & Blair and One Another. Her works are held in various collections including the Artbank and she has a long running collaboration with Sydney artist Rosie Deacon.
These resources have been designed by experienced Visual Arts educators to support students and teachers studying and delivering the NSW syllabus for Visual Arts, and are tailored to Stage 4 and Stage 5.
Stage 6 teachers may also consider some of the artist studies for their students.
