ABOUT

Emma Taylor is a British oil painter working between Aldershot and London. Her work grapples with the legacy of art history whilst investigating the complex and fascinating realm of the human condition and neurological fragility. A direct descendant of Rembrandt van Rijn, Taylor also descends from a line shaped by working-class resilience. Her great-grandfather, a talented painter raised in a London workhouse, spent his life spray-painting cars in a factory—creating artwork on scrap metal during breaks. Taylor’s work quietly honours these legacies, drawing inspiration from both the technical prowess of old master painters and the perseverance of her ancestors.

At age ten, when her mother suffered a postpartum stroke that warped her perception of time and self, Taylor began investigating the intersection between body and personhood; creating art that dealt with themes of fractured memory, trauma, and decay.

Taylor’s paintings are characterized by soft, atmospheric textures and a restrained, muted palette. Figures often appear partially obscured—emerging from or receding into hazy backgrounds that evoke the blurred edges of memory.