Emma Fielden is a multidisciplinary Australian artist residing on Gadigal and Darkinjung land. Her practice traverses expanded drawing, performance, and sculptural installation, reflecting upon the nature of the universe and our human place in it. Julie Ewington eloquently describes Fielden's work: “Emma Fielden scopes the universe through thinking about it. She combs the history and philosophy of science, draws on recent developments in physics and astronomy, and delights in mathematical conundra. Eventually, though, this conceptual investigation comes back to humans in search of a place in creation." (Read Ewington’s piece on Fielden’s work here).

Fielden's artworks often engage in a dialogue between binaries—science and poetics, zero and infinity, self and other, silence and sound, seen and unseen. She explores these liminal spaces with a focus on materiality, viewing all matter as vibrant and interconnected. This philosophy informs her approach to materials such as stone, thread, metal, and ink, which hold histories and narratives, beckoning viewers to unearth layered meanings.

Having emerged from a background in classical music, contemporary jewellery and metalsmithing, Emma’s practice is built upon histories of performance, materiality, the body, and the breath. Her artworks balance detail and precision with organic spontaneity. They are conceived to engage viewers in a shared contemplation of being, prompting an intimate dialogue with life’s infinite and ephemeral nature. Each work is a crafted invitation to experience the subtleties of existence, to feel the pulse of the universe and resonant echoes of infinity within the self.

Fielden holds an Associate Diploma in Music Performance (1995) and an Advanced Diploma of Jewellery and Object Design (2006). Her work has been exhibited regularly since 2007. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘The Bells’ (2021, pop-up exhibition supported by Create NSW), ‘Coalescence’ (2021, Mosman Art Gallery) and ‘An Immeasurable Distance’ (2019, The Lock-Up). Recent group exhibitions include ‘The Unseen’ (2023, Blacktown Arts Centre), ‘Radical Slowness’ (2022, The Lock-Up), ‘Attending’ (2022, Latrobe Regional Gallery), ‘On Earth’ (2021, QUT Art Museum), and ‘To Have and To Hold’ (2019, Art Gallery of South Australia).

Emma has received awards, such as the Art Omi Australia Committee Fellowship (2018) and the Paramor Prize Mayoral Award (2017, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre). She has been a finalist for awards, including ‘National Works on Paper’ (2022, Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery) and the NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellowship (2017, Artspace). She has received grants from the Australia Council, Create NSW and NAVA.

She was a Parramatta Artists’ Studios (PAS) and PAS Rydalmere resident from 2016 to 2021. In 2018, she was awarded a fellowship to attend the prestigious Art Omi Artist’s Residency in New York.

Image: Emma Fielden in her studio at Parramatta Artists’ Studios Rydalmere, 2019, courtesy Parramatta Artists’ Studios, photo by Jacquie Manning.