Emilie Pugh

Emilie Pugh explores the juxtaposition of the transitory and the permanent, employing a incense sticks to create marks on paper, in a process of reduction of both surface and material. Pugh calls her work an introspective journey, as she begins with little conception of the final composition and seeks to capture a state of mind with smoke lines. Her “Ink and Incense” series features sheets of semi-translucent paper that have been burned with incense, following the contours of an ink drawing on paper placed underneath, and stretched over a frame. Pugh favors layered artworks for their ability to create a shifting sense of space, which challenges their static form. Her meditative works are characterized by a tension between their small details and larger, swarming pathways.