Artwork by Emma O'Rourke

Emma O'Rourke is a Third Year Fine Art Student at the University of Leeds who transforms domestic materials into inspiring artwork reflecting ecological themes. Have a read below about Emma's inspiration for her artwork, why reusing materials is important to her, and the role artists can play during climate change.

'The awareness of social and environmental issues for artists is really important to consider and in the past year my own practice has been majorly impacted by the environment. Within my own practice I found that reusing materials provided a new perspective to objects and allowed me to change the narrative of them by speaking to a wider issue. I did this by just looking at my own environment and taking inspiration from materials and objects I could find.

Since Covid-19 I realised how much surplus of objects like envelopes and cardboard we received, from junk mail to deliveries. I wanted to find a way to use that in my work. We don’t realise how much domestic objects impact on our lives and how their repetition affects how we perceive them. From envelopes, to magazines, to cardboard, I wanted to find a way to communicate to an audience without being personal or specific in my work, but actually finding a way to resonate with as large of an audience as possible.

We were forced to spend so long in our own domestic spaces, I wanted to explore more about the comfort and familiarity we hold to them. I wanted to find a way to highlight our relationship to our domestic spaces and show that we don’t have to go far to find art in our everyday lives. Climate change is as issue that affects everyone, every part of our lives and daily routines. Artists are in a unique position in that we are able to bring awareness to this problem in a more accessible and visual form of communication that is not restricted by factors such as language which other strategies might be' - Emma O'Rourke