Interview | Troy Emery.

Gremlin. Shown at the Iain Dawson Gallery in Paddington, Sydney as part of the exhibition titled Wild Things.

Wild Thing I – The Aesthetics of Natural History. SOLD.

Troy’s scuplture which was part of Masters of Visual Arts Post Graduates Exhibition at the Sydney College of the Arts.

Troy Emery is a young Sydney based artist who graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art from Hobart School of Art at the University of Tasmania in 2005. Last year Troy also completed his Masters of Fine Art at Sydney College of the Arts at the University of Sydney. Troy creates experimental and playful taxidermy style sculptures which are covered in bright pom poms, textiles, fringing and sequins. Major fun.

That’s kind of all I know about the guy. But really, who needs to know any more other than that his work is super quirky and a joy to look at? And Troy is quite a character himself – how about that photo of him below? Pretty funny.

If you like what you see, here are the details for two of his upcoming shows in Brisbane and Sydney.

‘Wild Things’ at Metro Arts.
Level 2, 109 Edward Street, Brisbane.
Opens Wednesday 9th of March 2011. 6-8 PM. Tuns until 27th March.

‘Menagerie’ at First Draft.
116-118 Chalmers St, Surry Hills.
Opens Wednesday 16th of March 2011. 6-8 PM. Artist talks held at gallery 4:30 PM 2nd of April.

The man himself. That’s a pretty sweet beard Troy.

Hello Troy, welcome to yellowtrace and thank you for taking the time to share your story with us. Can you tell us about how you got to be a full-time artist?

I don’t know if I would call myself a ‘full time artist’. I’m more of a ‘most of the time artist’. I suppose it’s just a long progression where I got busier and busier, making more and more work. It all started on my first day of art school… maybe before that… in school, when I realized art was the only thing I was good at.

Troy’s scuplture which was part of Masters of Visual Arts Post Graduates Exhibition at the Sydney College of the Arts.

What are you seeking to portray in your work? How do you describe your art and your process?

My work is an ongoing project of producing a series of artworks that investigate decoration and the animal form and the aesthetics of craft associated with natural history. In my sculpture practice, taxidermy foam bodies are covered in bright polyester pom poms and craft textiles such as tassle fringing. The artworks, non-descript predator animals with their playfully colourful pelts, become hyper exotic specimens in a menagerie of art / animal objects.
A fake pelt is stretched over an animal mould and glass eyes are inserted. Some of the animals also have artificial teeth sets inserted. The result is a fake animal, an artwork masquerading as a lesson in natural history. I refer to these sculptures as ‘fake taxidermy’ because they follow the process of taxidermy without actually producing a real result. I see myself as following a process that mimics taxidermy, therefore, I see the result as also a kind of mimicry. The particular animals I choose to work with fall between being exotic and easily recognisable. The taxidermy mannequins used do represent particular species such as: mountain lions, wolverines and foxes but with the addition of their colourful pelts they become harder to classify. The colours of these animals are like those of exotically coloured birds of paradise prized for the vibrancy of their feathers but ultimately the colour combinations of my animals are impossibly replicated in nature.

They’re Building A Dam Between Us. Wild Things exhibition at the Iain Dawson Gallery.

After the Gold Rush. SOLD.

Can you describe your typical day of work?

My work is rather simple to make… the fun part is sourcing the materials… flicking through taxidermy supplier catalogues. Wandering around fabric shops. Checking out hardware stores. Once I have everything I need, it’s just a matter of putting it all together. It’s painfully boring and mindless. Aside form the hours of labor the work kind of makes itself.

What are some of your methods to staying motivated, focused, and expressive? What are some of your main sources of inspiration?

I don’t really have a problem staying motivated as such. When I’m making my work, I’m doing what I love and it’s really exciting. I think it’s really important to look at other art so I try to do regular rounds of exhibitions in Sydney and the art gallery is the first place I go when I travel.
In terms of inspiration… I really love museums, art galleries, toy stores, shops, and people’s houses. Anywhere where objects become artifacts and the mode of display influences the reading of those objects.

One of Troy’s sketch studies.

Wild Thing II. SOLD.

Who or what are some of your influences? What other artists, peers and creatives in general do you admire?

I follow several artists very closely. Two artists I really admire are Mark Dion who is constantly rethinking how the museum has shaped our understanding of our position in the natural world and how that knowledge is collected organized and fed back into the lessons that the museum offers. Jan Fabre is another favorite of mine. He uses insects to totally resurface imperial interior architecture, creating almost alien-like leviathan like spaces. He also works with taxidermy too which I have a not so secret obsession with.

What advice do you have for young artist who want to follow your path? What was one of your biggest lessons learned since starting out?

My undergraduate sculpture lecturer had a catch phrase: “make more! make more!” It didn’t matter if the student was presenting something fantastic or a pile of rubbish…
Making work is the most important part of being an artist. I call works that don’t work ‘misfires’ and I think they are just as important as any successful piece.

Rainbow Ermine. SOLD.

Green Hooded, Candy Stripe Fox. SOLD.

What are you working on at the moment?

I have two exhibitions in March, one at Metro Arts galleries in Brisbane and one at First Draft gallery in Sydney. So I am very busy. I’m trying to make a set of 12 animal works that are all the same. Each animal is covered in rainbow tassles and they kind of remind me of some kind of 80’s collectable toy like Cabbage Patch Kids or Rainbow Bright or Trolls. I only have a few more weeks to get it all done so its full on.

What’s next – can you share with us your vision and some of your goals?