Emma Hart on Ceramics, Relational Art, and Her Max Mara Prize Residency in Faenza

Emma Hart (b. 1974) discusses her shift from photography and video to ceramics, which began in 2012 after a residency at Wysing Arts Centre. She uses clay to create fragmented, unstable objects that engage viewers physically and emotionally, blurring the line between art and spectator. Notable works include 'Dirty Looks' (2013) at Camden Arts Centre, London, and 'Giving It All That' (2014) at Folkestone Triennale. In June 2016, she arrived in Italy for the Max Mara Art Prize for Women residency, first studying the Milan Systems Approach of psychologist Mara Selvini Palazzoli in Milan. Since September, she has been at Museo Carlo Zauli in Faenza, working with ceramist Aida Bertozzi to produce works for an exhibition that will debut at Whitechapel Gallery, London, then travel to Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia in 2017. Hart emphasizes ceramics as a medium to reveal raw reality beneath digital surfaces, evoking intimate feelings like embarrassment and anxiety.