Re-berth (Storge – Love of Family), Framed Original
Emma is a British mixed media artist whose layered, textural works blend sculpture, set design, and symbolism. Drawing on themes of dance, flight, and transformation, her art captures the drama and alchemy of the everyday.
In January 1932, Sheila Hawkins set sail from Perth, Australia, for Southampton, UK — a journey of over 18,000 miles and at least six weeks. A year ago, artist Emma de Polnay’s mother shared a photograph of Sheila aboard that ship. Emma restored and reprinted it, framing copies for her mother and sister. In that image, her grandmother radiates youthful optimism, embarking on a new life in a very new world as an artist, wife, and mother.
While Sheila’s London life was fraught with hardship, she faced it with remarkable courage. She defied the taboos of being a single mother in her forties, found solace and inspiration among bohemian friends across the UK and Europe, and established a successful career as an artist in a challenging, male-dominated environment.
Emma de Polnay’s artwork, Re-Berth (a play on the passenger ship term), depicts Sheila as a stoic ancestral figure, costumed and bathed in the warm glow of a copper sun, departing the heat of Western Australia. The tropical pitcher flower she holds represents the unique beauty of her artistic talent and her “otherness” in pre-WWII London — a testament to her strength and enduring spirit.
Sheila taught Emma how to see as an artist — an hour with her was worth a year in secondary school art classes. She was a hyper-sensitive, eccentric, and often scratchy soul (Emma is told she is very like her!) — but was profoundly loved and is still missed for her golden presence, 25 years after her passing at the age of 93.
This comes framed in a hand-finished painted wood float frame and is also a part of Love’s Lexicon collection.
Size (cm): 43 x 43
Original: $750.37
-70%$750.37
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Description
Emma is a British mixed media artist whose layered, textural works blend sculpture, set design, and symbolism. Drawing on themes of dance, flight, and transformation, her art captures the drama and alchemy of the everyday.
In January 1932, Sheila Hawkins set sail from Perth, Australia, for Southampton, UK — a journey of over 18,000 miles and at least six weeks. A year ago, artist Emma de Polnay’s mother shared a photograph of Sheila aboard that ship. Emma restored and reprinted it, framing copies for her mother and sister. In that image, her grandmother radiates youthful optimism, embarking on a new life in a very new world as an artist, wife, and mother.
While Sheila’s London life was fraught with hardship, she faced it with remarkable courage. She defied the taboos of being a single mother in her forties, found solace and inspiration among bohemian friends across the UK and Europe, and established a successful career as an artist in a challenging, male-dominated environment.
Emma de Polnay’s artwork, Re-Berth (a play on the passenger ship term), depicts Sheila as a stoic ancestral figure, costumed and bathed in the warm glow of a copper sun, departing the heat of Western Australia. The tropical pitcher flower she holds represents the unique beauty of her artistic talent and her “otherness” in pre-WWII London — a testament to her strength and enduring spirit.
Sheila taught Emma how to see as an artist — an hour with her was worth a year in secondary school art classes. She was a hyper-sensitive, eccentric, and often scratchy soul (Emma is told she is very like her!) — but was profoundly loved and is still missed for her golden presence, 25 years after her passing at the age of 93.
This comes framed in a hand-finished painted wood float frame and is also a part of Love’s Lexicon collection.
Size (cm): 43 x 43
