Emma Collery’s work explores topics associated with a location through her own perspective as a youth in this environment. This site-specific work is based on the small seaside village of Rosses Point in the North West of Ireland. Collery captures these ideas through banal maritime objects and navigation structures that hold fond childhood memories to her or a historical relevance to the community. Her work evokes a sense of realism while also abstracting the image in some way through a large and varied body of work.

Evident through her painterly language, Collery generates a sense of serenity and sublimity. Using techniques such as dripping and scraping paint, juxtaposing against the raw canvas and embroidery, she creates a unique and intriguing composition that draws the viewer in. Never using a literal representation of the sea, she instead uses dripping paint and graphs to symbolize the vast and ephemeral ocean.

Another feature of Collery’s work which is a prominent element is the introduction of text. She tries to encompass these feelings of romanticism and nostalgia through the text, in different fonts and scales. She uses predominantly poetry and song lyrics that she feels represents these ideologies.