Emma Roche (b. 1983, Dublin, Ireland) is a painter whose works are driven by everyday disruptions such as waged work and parenting responsibilities. The paintings are part of a long process, which starts with creating long lines of acrylic paint extruded through a syringe and laid out to dry. Once the paint has dried, it is used as if it is wool or thread and the strands are knitted together, with knitting needles, to make the final painting. Preliminary drawings on graph paper are used as patterns/craft charts to work from - each square represents a stitch to build the image. The layered process corresponds to a humdrum of daily repetitiveness and physically records and stores time.
Education
2016-2019 • M.A. in Visual Arts Practices, I.A.D.T. Dublin 2010 B.A. in Fine Art Painting, N.C.A.D., Dublin
2006 • Turps Banana Art School, London
Solo and Two-Person Shows
2024 • Gutter Habit: Emma Roche and Alexis Harding, Highlanes Gallery, Dublin
2023 • LOOP, Emergence Award, Wexford Arts Centre
• Lined Out, Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray
2021 • OCHRE, 2-person exhibition with Ciara Roche, Wexford Arts Centre
• Spiders and Cheerleaders, Ground Floor Gallery, The Complex, Dublin
2018 • Forward Slash, The Lab Gallery, Dublin
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 • Le vernissage, partie deux, Brigitte Mulholland, Paris
2023 • John Moore’s Painting Prize Exhibition, Walker Gallery, Liverpool 2022 GENERATION 2022, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny
• Zurich Portrait Prize Exhibition, The National Gallery, Dublin and Crawford Gallery, Cork
• Small Night Zine, Catalyst Arts, Belfast and Garter Lane, Waterford. Curated by James Merrigan
2020 • The Sky is Blue, VISUAL Carlow, selected by Katie Holten
2019 • How Small a Thought, Margate Now, Curated by Anne Ryan and Andrew Child
• Dearly Beloved, Artworks 2019, VISUAL Carlow, selected by Denis McNulty 2018 New Beginnings, Green On Red Gallery, Dublin
• Women Can’t Paint, Turps Gallery, London
• Turps Cloud, Turps Gallery, London
Residencies and Awards
• The Lady Grantchester Prize, John Moore’s Painting Prize, Artist in residence at the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation Arts Council Visual Arts Bursary Award
• Emergence Visual Art Award, Wexford Arts Centre Shortlist Zurich Portrait Prize, National Gallery of Ireland House Artist Residency, Wexford
• Arts Council Visual Arts Bursary Award
• Creative Ireland Bursary Award (Joint award with artist Ciara Roche) ArtLinks Bursary Award, Wexford County Council
• Shortlisted for Ruth Borchard Portrait Prize, London
Collections
• Arts Council of Ireland Butler Gallery, Kilkenny Crawford Gallery, Cork
• The Office of Public Works, Dublin Wexford County Council
• Wexford Arts Centre