EMILY WOLFE

ART SINGAPORE

17-19 January, 2025  /  Preview & Vernissage 16 January  /  Marina Bay Sands, Singapore





Emily Wolfe’s paintings are meditations on the past, filtered through a distinctly contemporary lens. Her imagery is a world both familiar to us, yet surreal; a place where remnants of classical landscapes collide with elements of our everyday — paper scraps, adhesive tape, and fragments of well-worn objects. Wolfe’s work is deeply rooted in the materiality of memory, where the layered textures of her paintings echo the stratified narratives of archaeology, an influence stemming from her early research excavating historic sites in Europe.

Through a process that begins with physical collage, Wolfe meticulously arranges cutouts and ephemera, transforming the fleeting and discarded into layered compositions that resist easy interpretation.

Her palettes are soft yet deliberate, marked by the kind of restrained beauty often found in faded photographs or delicate antiques. Here, light is more than mere illumination; it’s a participant in the narrative, casting quiet shadows that invite us to wonder what has been left unsaid or hidden from sight. Indeed Wolfe’s canvases hold traces of unseen lives, drawing attention to the gentle decay of time and the stories embedded within everyday objects.

Through her work, Wolfe redefines still life and landscape, positioning them not as static genres but as active dialogues between history, memory, and the present moment. Her paintings become spaces of reflection, layered recollection —dreamlike, haunting, and rich with ambiguity.