Beeswax and oil on canvas

18cm x 24cm

2025

(@emily.ponsonby)

25% of all sales will be donated to Women’s Aid

PLEASE NOTE THIS WORK WILL SHIP AT THE END OF MARCH AS THE ARTIST IS TRAVELLING UNTIL THEN.

Ponsonby invites us to see the extraordinary in the everyday, capturing the overlooked details of banal objects that time and familiarity can often numb. Through a meticulous study of every pore and imperfection, she aims to elevate the ordinary into the spectacular.

The Nabis painters were experts at this, building up flecks of colour that seem impossible to work; but somehow, vibrate to create the sensation of how it feels to be inside a moment; wallowing in a bath, a fabric studio or sitting at a table instead of simply documenting the scene. They draw you into the work which is an aspect Ponsonby shares. Her tilted picture planes and unexpected cropping make you feel as though the painting is wrapped around you. A half-drunk glass, an empty chair, foreshortened legs belonging to the viewer - each detail pulls you in, leaving room for you to become part of the story. Her paintings are not just what the eye sees; they’re what the heart feels - the invisible warmth between people as they share time and stories.

Ponsonby’s connection with her audience is further deepened through her laborious technique. The evidence of her struggle to bring the narrative to the surface through repetitive scraping, gauging and reworking the paint means the viewer feels her presence - feels the speed, the softness and the energy of the work. Her paintings pulse with a dynamic tension, a constant push and pull between bold gestures and subtle strokes, tightening and loosening and playing with both perfection and imperfection.