Emily Joy is a socially and environmentally engaged artist making sculpture, installation and performative work, and is a facilitator of public creative projects. Currently exploring Swiss glacial melt and the associated ecological and social impacts, her practice is centred around communication, empathy and environmental concerns. Work examines personal and ecological loss, land-based connections spanning countries and cultures, and the sharing of personal narratives to create new future possibilities focusing on shared responsibilities and the development of empathy. During her 'Land Earth Empathy' research project in the Swiss Alps, Emily documented glacial ice loss and the simultaneous vegetation growth, fascinated by the complexities of loss and renewal, the ambiguities of balance and imbalance, and the intensity of the biodiversity found in the glacial forefields.
‘Untethered (Growing in Stone)' is part of a body of work exploring the retracing of a journey made 50 years ago; erosion and glacial melt in the Engadin region of Switzerland; research into nostalgia and land-based stories; the activation of mountains and blocking of passage, and endolithic lichens and stone-moved mosses. Created by gradually altering an antique postcard image of a Swiss mountain until it resembles a floating rock, 'Untethered (Growing in Stone)' suggests both a cataclysmic fracturing and an emerging regenerative growth.
