Creative Parents — Emma Coulter
In our latest series on culture makers, we chat with creative parents on the ultimate career balance — starting with mother of two, artist Emma Coulter.
Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Jessica Tremp & Charlie Kinross
‘In my immediate family, the idea of being an artist was somewhat abstract, although my parents always encouraged me to do what I loved, which I am extremely grateful for,’ says Emma Coulter. Photo: Jessica Tremp
‘Spaces, places, culture, community, these things are at the heart of my site-specific works,’ says Emma Coulter. Photo: Charlie Kinross – courtesy of Metro Tunnel Creative Program
‘I never imagined in my wildest dreams getting to paint a whole city block in the middle of Melbourne CBD,’ says Emma Coulter. Pictured: Metro Tunnel. Photo: Charlie Kinross – courtesy of Metro Tunnel Creative Program
First up in our Creative Parents series is contemporary artist Emma Coulter, who lives with her partner, two children, and dog Brutus while running a successful art practice that transforms the built environment into multichromatic sculptural expressions, of colour and shape.
Emma captures colour in geometric forms in varying scales — from large-scale site-specific work in public space to paintings and sculptures created in her Macedon Ranges studio.
‘My work is unapologetically hard-edged, bold and colourful,’ says Emma. ‘Working across the mediums of painting, sculpture and site-specificity, my practice has grown out of a gestural based painting practice, exploding into a spatial approach where the art has a strong connection with its’ surroundings and context.’
Living on the periphery of Melbourne on Wurundjeri country allows Emma and her art dealer partner access to the city while granting them space for Emma’s self-contained studio and her family — art is part of their daily life. ‘We love the community here, and there are lots of creative families with similar age children,’ she shares. ‘It’s a beautiful place to raise children, yet we still have Melbourne at our fingertips.’
‘My partner and I both lead really busy lives with our work, both being immersed in the artworld, so for us, it’s also a complete recluse from that lifestyle, important for our state of wellbeing.’
Like most artists, the journey to a full-time career in the arts has contained its own twists and turns. Emma first began studying visual art at QUT, but while here, she found an interest in architecture.
‘Through the course of studying visual art, I became interested in the architecture faculty and went on to study a second degree, a Bachelor of Built Environment,’ says Emma. ‘It was here that I really excelled, as my creative energies and technical brain really collided. That was the foundation really for where I find myself now.’
This process of studying the built environment gave Emma the insight to include places and context within her site-specific works. It also poses a connection to the community through art engagement, embracing culture as a method to the art.
‘You don’t need to buy into the archetypal model of what’s expected. Block out the negative energy if there is any. For some reason, having children seems to come with a million unsolicited opinions on the way that you should be doing everything,’ says Emma Coulter. Photo: Jessica Tremp
“I truly believe that being a parent is like having a superpower – you have this whole other sense of perspective about the world. It’s not just about you anymore; you have a deeper sense of being this small thing in the universe.”
‘Interestingly for me, my arts career has taken off in parallel with having my first child, so I would like to think that I have proven that it is possible to grow a career and a family at the same time, but I guess the audience out there, and my own children can be the judges on that! says Emma Coulter. Photo: Emma Coulter
‘Having children has forced me to be more organised. When I first started out as an artist, everything was an experiment, and I would be cramming lots of sleepless nights into the weeks before a show. Somehow, everything is a bit calmer now... which is possibly the opposite of what you would expect!’ says Emma Coulter. Photo: Emma Coulter
Similarly, Emma takes note as a feminist culture maker, using scale, ambition, and construction to craft her artworks, all while running a family. ‘The two are inseparably intertwined, yet completely separate all at once,’ she adds.
‘I am constantly inspired by the strong female Australian artists that have come before me,’ Emma explains, citing public art sculptors Margel Hinder and Inge King, who raised their daughters while working. ‘Both were one of the few women artists in Australia to be commissioned for large public commissions works in their time.’
Emma’s work is immediately recognisable from the bright colours, which operate in symmetric harmony (thanks to extensive testing of tones and shapes in the studio). A recent project saw Emma’s art temporarily transform the City Square Metro building in Melbourne’s CBD. ‘spatial deconstruction #23 was born out of the idea of resilience of a city where creativity is at the heart of daily culture,’ says the artist.
Upcoming projects include a permanent public artwork in Melbourne, and an integrated public artwork at Yarilla Place, Coffs Harbour’s new cultural centre, in New South Wales. While in Emma’s hometown of Brisbane, the artist was selected for the QUT’s fourth Alumni Triennial at QUT Art Museum — coming full circle since studying her two undergraduate degrees there over 20 years ago.
To keep home and studio life running as smoothly as possible, Emma operates her practice as a small business — managing her time and deadlines through a planned schedule that begins at the computer with a coffee and leads onto the studio (though Emma notes home-schooling in the pandemic has led to a few 2am studio sessions!).
Curiously for Emma, becoming a parent has supercharged her art practice. Both the career highlights and raising children occurring at the same time. The financial sense of ensuring each job stacks up has encouraged Emma to advocate for her own rights as a female artist. ‘If anything, becoming a parent has given me new depths to explore,’ Emma explains. ‘There’s also a stronger desire to survive and to succeed financially.’
Emma’s advice for creative parents is the same as her advice to all parents, set boundaries: “Prioritise what is important for you and your family.’ She concludes, ‘Happy parents make happy children.’
