Emily Kraus

Overview
Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist
Kraus’ practice is rooted in experimentation and chance. Each smear and daub of paint that Kraus introduces takes on a life of its own: it spreads and grows and confines itself within structured repeating lines that layer themselves over and over again.  The resulting effect is a spectacular confluence of the organic and the technological as the paint gathers and patterns systematically construct on the canvas.
Presented with an eight by eight foot cubicle studio space while studying at the RCA, Kraus constructed an apparatus to transform the spatial limitations of the studio. The structure she invented meshes manual and technological creation, a skillset she acquired through her experience working at Factum Arte and Factum Foundation. This mechanism, a cubic metal scaffold, around which a long canvas loop is stretched, allowed the space to move around her body, instead of her body moving around the space. 

 

Kraus’ practice is rooted in experimentation and chance. Each smear and daub of paint takes on a life of its own: it spreads and grows and confines itself within structured repeating lines that layer themselves.  The resulting effect is a spectacular confluence of the organic and the technological as the paint gathers and patterns systematically construct on the canvas. 

 

Kraus describes her artistic practice as being “like painting with blinders on.” Due to the constricted dimensions of the mechanism that Kraus currently works with, she can only construct in her mind the appearance of the full painting throughout the making process. She explains: “I hold the memory of surrounding marks as I focus on what I can see and apply paint with an educated yet constantly surprised eye. This process forces me to remain with the present moment. This linear limitation of time is akin to the process of composing a musical score—only hearing one note at a time yet fitting it into the memory of its place in the score.”


Informed by her extensive background in meditative, yogic and somatic practices, Kraus’ artistic process is distinctly contemplative and reflective in nature. Each of the  Stochastic works require long periods of rumination as Kraus applies additional layers of paint and new marks and shapes are considered. Thus, Kraus’ process is marked by a constant to and fro between moments of spontaneous, active mark-making and thoughtful, meditative tranquility.

Works
  • Emily Kraus, Stochastic 7, 2022
    Emily Kraus
    Stochastic 7, 2022
    Oil on canvas
    170 x 300 cm
    66 7/8 x 118 1/8 in
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  • Emily Kraus, Stochastic Diptych, 2022
    Emily Kraus
    Stochastic Diptych, 2022
    Oil on canvas
    170 x 580 cm
    66 7/8 x 228 3/8 in
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Guts Exhibitions 
Press
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Courtesy of the artist
Courtesy of the artist

B. 1995, New York City, Based in London, UK

 

Education

2020 – 2022 MA Painting, Royal College of Art

2013 – 2017 BA Religious Studies, Kenyon College, USA

 

Group Exhibitions

2022, 'My Mother Was a Computer' Indigo+Madder, London
2022 RCA 2022 Online Degree Show, London
2022 'Timelines' Safehouse 1, London
2022 'A Body of Work' Grove Collective, London
2022 'Shadows' The Stable, S-chanf, Switzerland
2021 'Interior, Exterior' Sala Salon, London
2021 'The Running Water Takes me to a Farther Lake' Meisyakan, China
2021 'Identity' Yuan Art Museum, China
2021 'Work in Progress Royal College of Art, London
2020 'Que es Liminal' MRM Gallery, Spain

Residencies and Awards

2022 High Prize for Excellence, Royal College of Art, Short-listed
2022 Hine Prize, Royal College of Art, Short-listed
2017 University of Navarra Prize of excellence, Short-listed

Cyprus College of Art
Tyler School of Art summer painting intensive

Publications

2022 September Artist of the Month and Feature by Camille Moreno for Made in Bed, the Sotheby’s Institute Magazine
2022 The Stochasticism of Emily Kraus by Emily Blundell Owers, Curatorial Affairs Magazine
2020 Feast: Holiday Now Magazine, Royal College of Art