Emma McCleary’s works on paper are inspired by the life domestic. Drawn to the magic of old wallpapers, Emma is inspired by the background of our ordinary lives wallpapers, passing birds - as witnesses and record keepers of stories.
Her works feature plants, sometimes grown in her garden (Fantail and homegrown sage) and are distinctly domestic and provincial. Homely rather than sophisticated, Emma’s work celebrates and rallies against the simple life, ‘women’s work’ and brings to mind in look and feel the era of the 1930s and 1940s.
Emma has always worked her art and craft passions into evenings and weekends. Prior to becoming a stay at home mother her career included developing Te Papa’s first online exhibition, running Prince William’s social media campaign for his first official visit to New Zealand and using her communication skills to raise the profile of child poverty in New Zealand. She has also won two international PR awards, which all counts for nought when a toddler is hungry and needs a cracker, stat.
She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Printmaking) in 1999 and a Post Graduate diploma in Museum Studies in 2000. She spent weekends working in her home studio in Featherston then her burgeoning craft empire, Emma Makes, took over and the printmaking supplies were packed away for an increasingly long hiatus.
