The Skinny Showcase: Emily Tilzey

Gallery | 16 Jun 2014

The Skinny Showcase: Emily Tilzey

Studying Illustration with Animation, Emily Tilzey is currently in her third year at Manchester School of Art.

“A lot of my work is inspired by the delicate state of mind a lot of us are in. We are experiencing constant flashes of energy and bouts of thoughts and feelings, our experience of life can be very uncertain, and is, often. People fascinate me with their complexities; I don’t think I will ever fully understand another person.

"I wouldn’t say I have a ‘style’ as such, although other people recognise my work. I think I feel this way as I don’t just do painting and drawing or stick strictly to digital work. I don’t like to stay too long in one particular area – it is important and refreshing to explore other techniques in order to give life to your new ideas.

"I create work spontaneously and never have pre-considered visuals in mind that I aim towards. In my younger years I used to agonise over making something look like something else and had to suffer the disappointment when it didn’t. I never really felt content with a lot of my earlier work. Working abstractly and expressively opened my mind and I found my happy place using shapes, lines and colours. Soon I realised that this new abstract work I was creating had a lot more substance than the stale, lifeless drawings I had been doing throughout school etc. Understanding such things has been a real turning point in my artistic life, and although I have always been confident about my work, I finally feel comfortable with everything I do.

"My own processes are somewhat dreamy and distorted although I’m often drawn towards the more organised realms of design. Some of my favourite pieces of art are posters or book covers. I find some sort of modest beauty in objects that are functional. I have dabbled in design work and enjoy it a lot. There is a crossover of fine art and design in some of my work; I feel it lends itself well visually into both categories. I recently created on a series of events posters for Manchester-based club Soup Kitchen after us both coming to the conclusion that a lot of promotional artwork lacks talent and consistency, and it has been one of my favourite projects so far.”

Manchester School of Art Degree Show, Benzie, Grosvenor and Chatham Buildings, MMU All Saints Campus, 14-25 Jun, 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat/Sun, free

www.emilytilzey.com

Manchester School of Art Degree Show, Benzie, Grosvenor and Chatham Buildings, MMU All Saints Campus, 14-25 Jun, 10am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat/Sun, free

http://www.emilytilzey.com