The beautiful artwork featured on this site is by Associate Professor Emma Robertson. Emma’s images also will feature on the cover of our published book.
Emma and Amanda first worked together during the 4th International Conference on Memory (ICOM), which was staged in Sydney in July 2006. ICOM is the largest international gathering of memory scholars in the world, held every five years. Emma curated the ICOM-4 Art Exhibition, The Artistic Construction of Memory, which ran in parallel with the Scientific Program and aimed to highlight interdisciplinary possibilities between science and the arts. Emma’s artwork also was featured on the Conference Program Booklet, the Conference Abstract Booklet, and in Special Edition prints for the Conference.
Emma’s work is infused with concerns about memory and the intersection between our internal and external worlds. She demonstrates exactly the kind of interdisciplinary practice – drawing inspiration from biology and psychology, for instance – that we are interested in exploring, understanding, and promoting in our book.
In my work, the idea of layering is a metaphor for memories being laid down over time
— Emma Robertson
About Emma
Emma Robertson is an award winning artist, whose work is in seven public collections in four countries. The Hospital Trust for Scotland purchased two works for their permanent collection, which were commissioned by the Scottish Arts Council for the exhibition Wordworks.
Emma’s work has been competitively selected for the Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, the JADA, and four International Biennials of Drawing. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Scientia Education Fellow / Associate Professor at UNSW, and a previous Artist in Residence at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Her artwork focusses on using drawn images of endangered plant species to enhance engagement with ecology and the environment, through a meditative reflection on beauty, loss and memory.
Emma’s expertise in education relating to entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity at University and Executive Education levels has seen her win three prestigious teaching awards.
Her artwork was recently featured on the cover of the book Collaborative Remembering (Oxford University Press, 2017).
It is the memory in the mind that binds us to our lost treasures, but it is the loss that shapes the image, gathers the flowers, weaves the garland.
— Collete: Earthly Paradise
Memory Wild 