Emma O'Brien is a lens-based artist from Westmeath, her practice is concerned with themes of Mothering, family, childhood and home. In her current project The Holding Place she interrogates her role as mother, worker, and artist. Her work recognises and amplifies the notion that a mothers lived experience is a valid area of artistic inquiry. She aims to continue exploring the changing roles and cultural expectations placed on mothers through the 20th and 21st Century in future work.
Emma has a degree in Photographic Media from Griffith College, Dublin and is a member of Work Show Grow Photography School and Refktor Platform.
Recent achievements include publication of her current project as a TLP edition by PhotoIreland, selected as an emerging talent in Europe by FreshEyes and GUP magazine, this includes publication in the book FreshEyes 2021. The work has been exhibited in Group shows at FreshEyes Exhibition, Rotterdam, The Netherlands 2021, PhEST, See Beyond The Sea, International Festival of Photography, Monopoli, Italy, 2021 and Format International Photography Festival, Derby UK 2021. Emma is a Recipient of The Professional Development Award 2020, Arts Council of Ireland and The Agility Award 2021, by the Arts Council of Ireland.
