Emma Franks (b. 1972), visual artist and feminist, was raised in Essex and now lives and works in London. A multidisciplinary artist who creates paintings, costumes, performance and artist books, with themes of pregnancy, motherhood, the menopause, and illness. Emma’s work is raw, visceral and based on her own truth which some people find shocking in its refusal to sugar coat these subjects. Her deeply personal practice combines lived experiences with strong imagery and personal symbols of power, as well as feminist icons, in rebelliously humorous works.
Emma studied Fine Art at Brighton University (1994), Art Psychotherapy at Hertfordshire University (1999) and Studio Painting at Turps Banana Art School (2023). Franks previously worked within state education and the National Health Service, in addition to being a practising artist. Upcoming Exhibitions ‘Gates Of Horns: Myths of Resistance, Symbols of Defiance’, curated by Hettie Judah, Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate February 23 until April 23rd. Recent exhibitions in London include Bow Arts Open Call, curated by Lindsey Mendick, Safe House Peckham 2024, Ripe Banana Leavers Show 2023, Naissance Re-Naissance Unit Gallery London 2023, and Recreational Grounds VII (2023); Love, Celebration and the Road Ahead, TJ Boulting (2022); Mood Times Ten, Fitzrovia Gallery 2022; Arundel Contemporary 2018 and The Stratford Gallery 2018.
Lilith – as rebel and symbol of Jewish female power
It’s almost impossible when talking about my work to not mention Lilith. My work is deeply connected to lived experience and therefore my identity as a British Jewish woman. My identification with Lilith was born from this.
Preoccupied with finding strong Jewish female role models, it was during a visit to The British Museum Exhibition on Female Power that I chanced upon a bowl from 500 AD which showed a small drawing of Lilith in the centre. I was immediately drawn to this ancient depiction, repeatedly sketching her and including it in many of my works. It was after reading the book Jewish Identities In American Feminist Art by Lisa E Bloom, that I began to use Lilith as protagonist and eventually as the ‘founding mother’ in the performance and creation of the first feminist religion ‘The 13th Tribe’. Finding Lilith has been an important journey to reclaim and inhabit an identity as a strong Jewish woman, feminist and artist.
Podcasts
videos
https://click.email.vimeo.com/u/?qs=0d6a16df2c5087fa0c2a60fbf13077acbc99c10acb6523eb8013b8607f6429cf06f33aeb07c918fb5f165074b6141c630710de1554ceb00ece93bf34d091aae6
Articles and Interviews
Maternal Art Interview with Director Helen Sargeant
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMmWAbRFHB5/?igshid=z40v8f0w4enp