Emma's exquisite floral portraits create spaces to contemplate and celebrate beauty and the permanence and ephemerality of our humanity.
Emma Bass is an established artist whose floral compositions inspire metaphorical and narrative interpretations.
Her contemporary photographic compositions have been shown in leading art galleries in New Zealand and
internationally and are held in private collections throughout the world; Bass is the only New Zealand artist to have
been invited to exhibit at the prestigious Summer Exhibition at
the Royal Academy in London. She seeks to cultivate
a sense of hope, sometimes despite difficult circumstances, in this respect, her work addresses a psychic human
need for the uplifting power of beauty. This connects with her former career as a nurse, in which she sought to heal
and comfort. She is proud that her work has been acquired by and gifted to hospitals, hospices and funeral homes.
Following from a successful editorial photographic career, two recent examples of Bass’ art practice include 'Imperfect,' which explores the beauty of the impermanent and flawed, and 'Embellish,' which addresses illusion and its connection
to beauty and superficiality and the integral role these ideas and devices play in human societies. She continues to experiment with media, including paint, light boxes, animations, puzzles and umbrellas. She is also constantly exploring new conceptual terrain and motifs.
