KAYLA WRATTEN
Journalist

A PASSION FOR TRAVEL SET MULTI-TALENTED MAKER EMMA GALE ON THE PATH TO EXPLORING AFRICAN CULTURE THROUGH CANVAS AND CLAY

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Emma Gale first travelled to Africa at the age of 15, when she journeyed through Kenya and Zimbabwe on a three-week safari and fell in love with the scenic continent. “These are the life-changing moments that make us who we are,” explains the NSW-based artist of visiting tribal villages and spotting incredible wildlife – unrivalled experiences that ultimately set Emma on her own creative path, sparking a passion for travel and the inspiration it brings.

 

From Africa to Bangalow, which she now calls her home, Emma pursues her passion for African culture through acrylic paintings and handcrafted ceramics. Her coveted canvases can be found at hotspots such as Byron Bay’s The Atlantic hotel. The uplifting works are all created in Emma’s paint-splattered home studio, where the oor is buried beneath layers of matted colour. “I enjoy being in a creative space,” she says. “I step in and stay in there all day!” Emma and her husband, Gary, moved to the town of Bangalow with their two children, Mia, 18, and Max, 11, after years of city living in Sydney. They were longing for an escape from the urban bustle of Sydney, where Emma honed her artistic skills working as an assistant to a graphic designer, and also presenting an array of solo exhibitions including two with Fenton & Fenton.

 

After her initial trip to Africa, the maker deepened her obsession with the continent when she bought a one-way plane ticket (two years out of school) to Egypt. In the capital city of Cairo, she devoted two years to establishing the Tukul Craft Workshop aimed at nurturing Sudanese refugees. “We taught them to make items and created a store where things could be sold,” says the keen traveller. “The experience was challenging but also very rewarding.”

 

Her global lifestyle has clearly in influenced her textural paintings, which capture everyday vignettes from African and Caribbean culture. Emma says she is intrigued by “the simple things in life, like daily routines, the local way of life, the colours and foods of different countries”. Alongside painting Mexican fruit bowls and African fishermen, she also shifts from canvas to clay. “Ideas ow and sometimes if they don’t flow with the paint they ow in the sculptural form,” she says. “I find the clay grounding and therapeutic and I love creating free forms. They have no set rules and I can play with new shapes.” The artist describes her second medium as heavy and gritty, lending a tribal rawness to her sculptures: “In other words, they are not delicate!”

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In late 2019, Emma returned to Africa to give back to the place that in influenced her creative career. In Ethiopia, she worked with Australian non-pro t organisation Create Impact to raise funds for education and health care. “Ethiopia is beautiful but poor and we can actually make a difference,” she says, in a sign that her lifelong love affair with Africa is far from over.

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