Em Frank
Em Frank works across ceramics, sculpture and metal. She is drawn to the conversations that happen between materials, particularly those which have been discarded, repurposed, and overlooked. Based in Tarntanya/Adelaide, Em is a studio tenant at JamFactory and works as a technician and facilitator with Ku Arts and Iwiri Arts. She has spent many years living and working in the Central Desert, the influences of which are evident throughout her practise.
Image by Connor Patterson - find them on Instagram at @connorpphotography
Em’s work was recently included in Director’s Choice at Sabbia Gallery and DONE/UNDONE at Craft Victoria, curated by Joseph Gardner. She is part of an upcoming show alongside fellow JamFactory alumni at Useful Objects, with work responding to processes of corrosion and decay. Em’s work is known for its rich textured surfaces and illustrative line work.
Em took some time to feel comfortable describing herself as an ‘artist’. She has always been someone who scribbles, makes, and tinkers, but it was an obsession with clay that enabled her to inhabit that identity fully. "I think it's the technical depth of ceramics that captivated me" she says. “The way every discovery leads to new worlds of questions." This sense of a material that keeps opening rather than resolving is central to Em’s practise lead approach. She credits her many generous mentors with helping her gain the confidence to pursue ceramics seriously rather than as a side interest.
Image by Connor Patterson - find them on Instagram at @connorpphotography
Asked about the future of craft, Em is candid. She's wary of the speed and force of generative AI, and its tendency to "sanitise and flatten creative voices". But she's not pessimistic. "Craft seems to be flourishing," she says, pointing to the wild, experimental work being made around the world right now, and to the many artists reusing waste materials and subverting traditional mediums. This is work that runs directly parallel to her own preoccupation with discarded objects and unlikely material pairings. If anything, Em hopes the slide towards automation might sharpen rather than dull the relevance of hand-crafted things, making them “all the more special and relevant.”
Em says that she is lucky to be part of an “active and generous arts community that truly values collaboration and knowledge sharing”. She operates on the conviction that the success of all makers is collectively bound.
More of Em Frank's work can be found at emfrank.com.au and on Instagram @em___frank.