Lost
Emma J V Parker
Lost (detail) 2026
Porcelain
Underglaze
47 x 12 x 38 cm
About the Artwork
I’m a recent immigrant who is enjoying getting lost in Australian culture and history. Peeling layers and fascinated by everything I encounter and learn, the density is overwhelming. Everything holds meaning. Observing the structure and colour of native botanicals seamlessly links the landscape with First Nations and colonial histories—whose interconnectedness is hard for me to fathom.
In this self-portrait, I am enveloped by them. In European fairytales, the ‘woods’ have agency: these dark ancient forests with monstrous trees, hidden obstacles, and labyrinthine paths force people to face their fears. They might become a hero or disappear forever. In the same way, the dense Australian bush has the agency to transform, to replenish, or to absorb. The ‘lost child’ is part of Australian iconography; found too late in the hollow of a tree or swallowed up, the trope is symbolic of colonial anxiety. Disappearances are cautionary tales. Complacency and naivety can be fatal.
About the Artist
A British-born ceramic artist, Emma J V Parker has lived in Naarm/Melbourne since 2018. After earning a Bachelor of Arts Hons (Ceramics) from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff and Master of Fine Arts in 2001, she trained as a teacher and worked with ceramics in arts education for almost 20 years. Emma’s work is informed by a lifelong fascination with storytelling. She is deeply engaged by the notion of narrative through surface decoration and draws upon this in her ceramic practice, imbuing figurative forms with deeper meaning.
Local highlights include the solo exhibition The Space In Between at Canberra Potters Society (2022); a residency at Northcote Pottery Supplies (2022); and selection as a finalist in the Clunes Ceramics Award (2022) and Queensland Ceramics Award (2024). Emma is also the winner of the 2025 Klytie Pate Ceramics Award.