'Frank's Paper Basket' - Tessellated oil painting on timber board by Perth based artist Emma Lipscombe

'Mlle Margot' - Tessellated oil painting on timber board by Perth based artist Emma Lipscombe

Various paintings by Emma Lipscombe

Emma Lipscombe is a Perth based artist whose work has recently caught our eye.  She creates these striking mixed media works, by first laser cutting timber board, then painting each piece individually using oil paint.  Interestingly, she paints with her fingers (!!), often layering over and over until the colour is just right.

‘I began creating geometric works on paper some years ago but discovered a passion for paint and puzzles about two years ago; it felt right and I found it enabled better control over the play of colour’ she says.  The texture of the paint is also important for Emma, providing a contrast with the precise hard-edges of the individual laser cut blocks.  Once dry, the pieces are put back together, and only then does the finished piece really come together.  ‘The design process is quite instinctive and intuitive; the pattern tends to emerge in a very organic manner’ says Emma.  ‘It is less about planning, per se, and more about enabling the pattern to arrive’ she says.

Emma describes her work as ‘simple, formal, playful and considered’.  She is influenced by a myriad of sources, including Enid Marx’s designs for London Underground, Bauhaus textile workshop patterns, Scandinavian carpet design, Hecker Guthrie's amazing interiors, Studio Dimore and Isle Crawford, Faye Toogood sculptural forms, Lubna Chowdhary ceramic art among many other things!

Though originally from Western Australia, Emma spent many years living and working abroad, before settling down again in Perth.  She originally studied Landscape Architecture at the University of Western Australia, then spent time working in Ireland, the UK, Europe and the Middle East.  Now back in Perth, she works at Tierra Design, owned by Argentinian Architect / Landscape Architect Martin Palleros, who Emma greatly admires – ‘he is a minimalist and brilliant designer, who taught me the magic of restraint in design, and the value of treading lightly’ she says.

Though she does adore her day job as a landscape architect, Emma says her true passion is her painting, and the way that she is able to reference things seen and experienced in her travels. ‘I believe my background in design inspired my interest in pattern and colour’ she says. ‘It underlines the ordered rhythm of reduction and repetition that characterizes my work.... and sometimes I also wonder whether the act of creating a sense of order through art is a response to the delightful chaos of having two small children in the house!’.

Emma’s works start at around $400 (framed) and she can be contacted via her website.

'Editor and Planner' - Tessellated oil painting on timber board by Perth based artist Emma Lipscombe

'Frances and Gabriel' - Tessellated oil painting on timber board by Perth based artist Emma Lipscombe