1 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
The Red Jacket with Silk
2018
cotton velvet, silk
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2 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
Installation view
2018
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3 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
Installation view
2018
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4 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
Installation view
2018
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5 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
Installation view
2018
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6 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
Entry with Granite
Weaving (Emma Fitts), Charms (Hannah Rings), 2018
Wool, linen, silk, granite, 9ct gold, copper, freshwater pearl, quartz, jasper bead
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7 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
Living Room with Meteorite
Weaving (Emma Fitts), Charms (Hannah Rings), 2018
Waxed cotton, wool, linen, silk, Russian Iron Meteorite, fresh water pearl,
9ct gold, silver, granite, jasper bead, mudlarked nut (metal unknown)
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8 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
Ground Floor with Pearls and Stones
Weaving (Emma Fitts), Charms (Hannah Rings), 2018
Waxed cotton, wool, linen, silk, raw emerald, 9ct gold, copper, granite,
freshwater pearl, quartz, jasper bead
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9 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
Installation view
2018
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10 / 10
Emma Fitts
In The Rough: Part 1
On the Periphery of Distress
2018
dyed wool
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In The Rough: Part 1
Emma Fitts
04 Sep – 29 Sep 2018
In her book On Weaving, Anni Albers writes about our tactile sensitivity and the surface quality of material, saying that we touch things to assure ourselves of reality but that most of our experiences today are with an already pre-formulated material rather than unformed material. Albers refers to this unformed material as material ‘in the rough’.
With textiles and tactility at the centre of her practice, Fitts presents collage and photographic work made during her recent residency at McCahon House, Titirangi, Auckland. These new works enter into an imaginative dialogue between the writing of Anni Albers, the interior design of Eileen Gray and the portrait painting of Romaine Brooks. Combining the site of the McCahon house and this group of remarkable historical figures new ideas of portraiture and architectural decoration emerge.
Emma Fitts completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury in 2002 and a Master of Fine Art from the Glasgow School of Art in 2010. Her individual practice and collaborative work as Fitts & Holderness and Victor & Hester, has seen her participate in exhibitions and residencies both nationally and internationally. Fitts returned to Christchurch in 2014 as the Olivia Spencer Bower awardee and has most recently been the McCahon House resident for winter 2018.
Recent projects include Bright Cave, curated by Robyn Maree Pickens at Blue Oyster, Dunedin 2018; I Digress, with Victor & Hester, curated by Sophie Davis at Enjoy, Wellington 2018); Homeshow, Christchurch, curated by Louise Palmer, (2017); Section, Elevation, Perspective, at Parlour Projects, Hastings (2017); From Pressure to Vibration: The Event of a Thread, curated by Melanie Oliver at The Dowse, Wellington (2017).
Fitts’s work is currently on show at Christchurch Art Gallery and Pataka Art and Museum, Wellington, as part of their respective exhibitions marking 125 years of Women’s suffrage.