ACCOUNT

ABOUT

Julian Emsley is a self-taught artist based in Wimbledon, London, whose work explores contrast, materiality, and the fragile dialogue between beauty and decay. Having long pursued different creative practices—photography, furniture making, painting—he came to embrace them all as part of a single artistic language during the isolation of the pandemic. In 2022 he took a studio at Wimbledon Art Studios, where his practice continues to evolve.

​

Rooted in observation of the world both physical and political, Julian’s work captures the stark contrasts of our time. His early paintings experimented with ink and charcoal, later combining paint and resin to create tactile surfaces charged with depth and tension. Drawn to the visceral response of touch, he began developing three-dimensional works: sculptural forms that invite both contemplation and physical encounter.

​

In 2024, he turned to woodturning, working with fallen or felled wood to create vessels that are richly textured, each carrying the marks of nature’s own history. Whether on canvas or in form, his work seeks to hold opposites together—hope and awareness, fragility and resilience, ephemerality and permanence.