Emma Davies

31st October 2025 In August 2023, I went camping, rambling and wild swimming in Snowdonia National Park. It was the yearly summer holiday, when being an artist was at the rear of my thoughts and being ‘just’ Emma was at the fore. But then I am not one without the other; I am not Emma without being an artist. Being an artist is being Emma. So, whenever I'm away, I'll take photographs, make sound recordings or draw. It's a compulsive act; recording the experience of being in and experiencing a place. My partner also takes photographs, and often photographs me while I'm in the act of experiencing and being in ‘a place’. When I'm not being an artist, and just being Emma. But, like I said, there isn't one without the other. We send each other our best photos, and when looking through his (of me), I pondered on something. These weren’t just holiday snaps; were these, in fact, a documentation of an artistic act, intended or otherwise? And simultaneously, he's experiencing my experience; and documenting that? He wouldn't himself claim to be an artist, or a photographer, but he has much of a compulsion as me to document, through photography, experiences which have an impact on him. Looking at Aber Falls, Snowdonia National Park, 2022 Taken on a Windows Phone Image by Michael J Panter Considering Taking a Dip in Aber Falls, Snowdonia National Park, 2022 Taken on a Windows Phone Image by Michael J Panter Taking a Dip in Aber Falls (I Only Went in the Small Pool - Safety First!) Snowdonia National Park, 2022 Taken on a Windows Phone Image by Michael J Panter Setting off for a Long Walk, After Taking a Dip In Aber Falls, Snowdonia National Park, 2022 Taken on a Windows Phone Image by Michael J Panter    

2017 As part of my AA2A residency at De Montfort University, I am writing a blog documenting the development of my work whilst on the scheme, plus reflecting on the arc of my practice to date and the day to day concerns of surviving as an artist. So far I have talked about: The comparisons between graduating from university now and 1993, i.e. pre internet and social media How your practice can change dramatically when faced with changes of location, peers and audience. How it changes further still once you become a parent. Investigations into screen printing after a 25 yr hiatus and the heightened feelings of anticipation and nervousness as to how the prints will 'turn out'.