“Mamma Mia” (2017) by Emma Hart. Installation view at Whitechapel Gallery. Photo by Thierry Bal
Emma Hart’s work is alive. It cannot be observed at arm’s length. It draws you in and spits you out. It consumes and exposes you, invading your personal space in an awkward, often confrontational manner. Her expressions – be it photography, film, sculpture or large-scale ceramics – are emotionally, metaphorically and physically stimulating, capturing the confusion, stress and nausea of the everyday experience.
Earlier this month, Hart unveiled a major new installation, Mama Mia, at the Whitechapel Gallery for the sixth edition of the Max Mara Art Prize for Women. The work is the culmination of a six month, three-part residency in Italy and comprises a family of large, jugular-shaped ceramic heads that are conjoined by a red cord. Each sculpture is glazed with domestic motifs and conceals a visceral interior pattern that can only be seen once the viewer braves its interrogating central spotlight, which projects a speech bubble onto the floor beneath it. Here, the London-based artist sheds light on the inception, concept and creation of the piece.
What was your starting point for Mama Mia?
I actually had quite a clear idea of what I wanted to do right from the start, which was unusual [laughs]. I was aware of the late pioneering psychiatrist Mara Selvini Palazzoli, who had founded an Italian school of family psychology called the Milan Systems Approach. Her method involved treating the space between people and their relationships, which I found fascinating. Up until that point, my work had addressed how an artwork can form a relationship with a viewer, so it felt natural to explore this further.
“THUMBS UP THUMBS DOWN” (2017) by Emma Hart
So, you observed families undergoing this special type of constructivist therapy?
Yes, for the first two months I stayed in Milan and was able to watch families undergoing treatment at the clinic and also spend time with Matteo Selvini, the son of Mara, who continues his mother’s work. I think they were intrigued by idea of an artist observing their practice and were very supportive and generous. I spent that time watching people receive treatment and be given strategies to help them with their relationships.
Your usual medium is photography and film, what prompted you to use ceramics here?
I had dabbled in ceramics since 2012, but hadn’t had any formal training, I just watched YouTube videos about how to do it. But, of course, Italy is steeped in ceramic expertise and ingenuity, so I understood when I submitted the proposal for the residency that it would be a great time to improve my skills. After Milan, I spent three weeks in Todi [Umbria] to stay with Matteo Boetti, who is the son of [Italian conceptual artist] Alighiero Boetti. I also met modern-day craftswomen who decorated Maiolica [Italian tin-glazed pottery dating from the Renaissance period] and I became very interested in how they created patterns on those pieces.
You also visited Deruta, which is globally renowned for its extraordinary ceramics…
Yes, I had a bit of an epiphany there, when I realised I could link the patterns of human behaviour I had seen in Milan with the decorative patterns of the Maiolica. Essentially, these visual patterns could capture the repetitive patterns of behaviour. So, I designed one and to my surprise it went well. I thought, “Wow, I could be the next Cath Kidston.”
Work in progress at Museo Carlo Zauli
How did you put these ideas into practice in Faenza, the final stage of your residency?
I worked with Aida Bertozzi – who had assisted Carlo Zauli, a prominent ceramic and vinyl artist in the 1950s and 60s – who wasn’t fazed in the slightest when I said ‘I want to make these big ceramic head-shaped lamps that spit speech bubbles at people.’ It was a real step up for me, and I could only have created them under the guidance of a real expert. I fired the pieces in a kiln that was bigger than my bathroom! It’s very difficult to make something that large in ceramics.
The heads are all conjoined with red cord, like one large vein…
I always understood that I was making a family of objects that are all different but ultimately linked. It is one giant sculpture. We’re all stuck in feedback loops of habitual behaviour, and ultimately through observing families at the therapy unit, I began to recognise my own habitual loops. I actually learned a lot about my own behaviour.
The work strikes me as being quite violent, some of the heads are decapitated below the nose and spliced by rotating fans that are shaped like cutlery…
Yes, some of the domestic situations that I had observed were actually quite sinister. So the idea was that some of the heads were cut off below the nose to reveal a speech bubble. The fans are slowly executing, slicing through the speech, and of course, for that I needed a knife. There’s also a spoon and a fork.
“I WANT WHAT YOU’VE GOT, EVEN WHEN I AM ASLEEP” (2017) by Emma Hart
Are you able to tell us more about the patterns which decorate the inside of the heads?
The patterns are really about me reflecting on my own state of mind, or digesting the things that I absorbed. For example, the lamp head with the green interior addresses the pitfalls of womanhood. This lady is trapped in a jealously plant and she can’t get out.
Awkwardness is a recurring theme in your work, how does it manifest here?
Some of the patterns are really quite awkward and anxiety inducing. But, it’s more about the viewer having to step inside the work to see the interior pattern, which means being exposed by a bright spotlight. I’ve seen some people refuse to step inside it. In that sense, the art becomes a real situation. Here, the art is shouting, spitting, vomiting on you, even – however you see it.
How has being the laureate of the 2016 Max Mara Art Prize influenced your creative practice?
It has opened doors in my head which I did not know were there. I’m so excited about ceramics and the notion of patterns now. If I want to, I can draw! I had the time of my art life.
“Mamma Mia” (2017) by Emma Hart. Installation view at Whitechapel Gallery. Photo by Thierry Bal
“Mamma Mia!” by Emma Hart is on display at Whitechapel Gallery until 3 September 2017