Artist Statement
My work is influenced by the vast, remote landscape of Ireland's west coast - its dramatic weather fronts, primordial character, and scattered remnants of human habitation. I sketch on location and work from that experience in the studio, using monotype, drypoint and etching.
I use deliberate linework alongside fluid, organic mark-making to reflect the struggle between the human impulse to build and impose order against the relentless forces of nature and time.
Biography
Emma Fitzpatrick is an Irish printmaker based in Dublin. Working primarily in monotype, drypoint and etching, her work is influenced by the landscape of the west coast of Ireland. It reflects the struggle between human endeavour to shape the land and the relentless forces of nature and time. She is a member of Black Church Print Studio, Dublin, and Leicester Print Workshop, UK.
She has exhibited in the UK and Ireland, including the Royal Hibernian Academy, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Royal West of England Academy, Society of Women Artists, Royal Society of British Artists and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers at Bankside Gallery. She has been selected for Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair on multiple occasions.
Combining deliberate line with fluid, gestural mark-making, the prints express the tension between control and chaos. Recent developments in her work focus on expanding scale, informed by outdoor sketching which has been central to her process. She founded the Leicester Chapter of Urban Sketchers, a global drawing community, and her location-based drawing feeds directly into the studio work.
She has received an Arts Council England award and most recently a Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Professional Development Arts Grant 2026 to support her practice. She has undertaken residencies including Cill Rialaig and Brisons Veor. Alongside her exhibition work, she has completed commissions for Canal & River Trust, Leicester City Council, a boutique hotel and private clients. Her work is held in collections in the UK and Ireland.
Emma has more than twenty years experience working in design, from TV production design at RTÉ to exhibition visualisation for museums and cultural institutions on global projects.