Emmely Elgersma
Surrounded by buckets of PVA glue and stacks of newspapers, Emmely Elgersma uses her studio like a surreal kitchen, concocting wonky sculptures and wobbly objects that look good enough to eat (but probably don’t taste very good). Creating clay from kitchen products and papier-mâché out of household chemicals, Elgersma’s work is rooted in her formal training as a ceramicist, just with a couple of jokes thrown in.
Her fascination with discarded materials began with one of her first jobs, working in a shop in Bloomsbury for the daughter of the founder of Bagpuss and Clangers, where she learned how to transform ‘rubbish’ into window displays. That early hands-on experience with glue, scraps, and imagination laid the groundwork for her approach to sculpture. This resourceful attitude extends beyond her studio; briefly enrolled in Tom Daley’s Diving Academy at Stratford Olympic Pool, she embraced the challenge of movement, balance, and precision - elements that continue to inform her sculptural practice. The result is an exploration of what objects mean to us as human beings, whether it’s turning an old tennis ball tube into a luxury functioning lamp or transforming piles of disused packaging into a 14-foot shark for a brewery in Scotland.
Emmely was previously an artist-in-residence at the Sarabande Foundation, established by Lee Alexander McQueen, where she was awarded a studio connected to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. She has exhibited at Christie’s, Saatchi Gallery, Selfridges and London Design Festival, with collaborations including IKEA, TikTok, End of the Road Festival, Paynter Jacket, Johnnie Walker and Sandqvist. In Spring 2025, she has been invited to participate in an artist residency in South Korea as part of Korea’s International Craft Festival, further developing her research into sustainability and design innovation. Currently, she’s waiting to see if she has made it into the Guinness World Records for creating the biggest ever papier-mâché sculpture. It was very, very big. Too big, if anything.
She received her FA Level 1 coaching qualification in 2020, which led to her working as a coach for Spurs and Juventus and managing The Tate Workers football team, so she’ll happily tell you why 4-4-2 is more effective with a diamond and inverted wingers. The result is a joyous collision of colour, interiors, sport and sculpture.