Emily Young

Exploring Emily Young’s carved works from the 1980s to the present, Jon Wood’s thoughtful survey places her sculpture within its resonant contexts, both art historical and more broadly cultural. In doing so, it draws attention to the richness of her sculptural imagination and the issues that charge it, from ecology and environmentalism to poetry and philosophy. The inclusion of Young’s early paintings also draws out her long-standing preoccupation with narrative. Probing the relationship between the artist’s sculpture and the material life of things, Young’s original way of thinking, seeing and feeling is skilfully presented, so enriching our understanding of this important contemporary figure.

Author Biography

Dr Jon Wood is an art historian and curator specialising in modern and contemporary sculpture. He worked as Head of Research at the Henry Moore Institute and was editor of the Sculpture Journal. He has co-edited major sculpture anthologies including Contemporary Sculpture: Artists’ Writings and Interviews (2020) and Modern Sculpture Reader (2012). Recent publications include Michael Sandle: Works on Paper (2023), William Turnbull: International Modern Artist (2022), A Democratic Process: Bill Woodrow and Richard Deacon (2021), and Tony Cragg: Stacks (2020).