Emilia Telese
Emilia Telese (Italy, 1973) is an artist whose practice is defined by contrasts: the sun-drenched wheat fields of Puglia and the icy tundra of Iceland, the intimate and the universal, the throwaway and the precious. Her practice explores themes of belonging, transience and embodied imagination, often using materials with personal or historical resonance such as mementoes, clothing, dust and earth from specific locations. In recent years, she has increasingly focused on the dialogue between performance and printmaking.
The pieces present at the WCPF 2025 are part of Breathing Space, a series of conceptual, modular monotypes and drypoints on copper in which Telese uses glacier dust collected from extreme Icelandic dust storms by pioneer dust scientist Dr. Pavla Dagsson-Waldhauserová from the Agricultural University of Iceland. Embedded within the works are fragments of the scientist’s own experience—stories of how the very dust she collects affects her breathing, her body and her mind. These narratives, shared with Telese during their ongoing collaboration, are made visible in the work as figures and traces emerging from the black dust-ink. Telese combines the volatile, ephemeral nature of dust with the enduring weight of traditional metal engraving, reflecting on the fragile balance between transience and permanence, and the complex relationship between humans and environmental forces.
Emilia Telese works between Iceland and the UK. Born in Italy, she graduated in Painting from the Fine Arts Academy in Florence in 1996. After moving to the UK in 1997, she studied Printmaking at the University of Brighton, and completed a PhD at Loughborough University. Since moving to Iceland in 2019, she has become a member of the Icelandic Printmakers Association and the Icelandic Artists Association.
Exhibition highlights include the RBSA Prize and Summer Exhibition, the Royal Society of Printer-Printmakers IOPE Exhibition, The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, the Association of Icelandic Printmakers, Reykjavík (2024 and 2025), The Louvre (Paris, 2012), the Freud Museum (London, 2010), Leeds City Gallery (2006), the Venice Biennale (2005), Ars Electronica (Linz, 2002-2003).
Emilia Telese (Italy, 1973) is an artist whose practice is defined by contrasts: the sun-drenched wheat fields of Puglia and the icy tundra of Iceland, the intimate and the universal, the throwaway and the precious. Her practice explores themes of belonging, transience and embodied imagination, often using materials with personal or historical resonance such as mementoes, clothing, dust and earth from specific locations. In recent years, she has increasingly focused on the dialogue between performance and printmaking.
The pieces present at the WCPF 2025 are part of Breathing Space, a series of conceptual, modular monotypes and drypoints on copper in which Telese uses glacier dust collected from extreme Icelandic dust storms by pioneer dust scientist Dr. Pavla Dagsson-Waldhauserová from the Agricultural University of Iceland. Embedded within the works are fragments of the scientist’s own experience—stories of how the very dust she collects affects her breathing, her body and her mind. These narratives, shared with Telese during their ongoing collaboration, are made visible in the work as figures and traces emerging from the black dust-ink. Telese combines the volatile, ephemeral nature of dust with the enduring weight of traditional metal engraving, reflecting on the fragile balance between transience and permanence, and the complex relationship between humans and environmental forces.
Emilia Telese works between Iceland and the UK. Born in Italy, she graduated in Painting from the Fine Arts Academy in Florence in 1996. After moving to the UK in 1997, she studied Printmaking at the University of Brighton, and completed a PhD at Loughborough University. Since moving to Iceland in 2019, she has become a member of the Icelandic Printmakers Association and the Icelandic Artists Association.
Exhibition highlights include the RBSA Prize and Summer Exhibition, the Royal Society of Printer-Printmakers IOPE Exhibition, The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, the Association of Icelandic Printmakers, Reykjavík (2024 and 2025), The Louvre (Paris, 2012), the Freud Museum (London, 2010), Leeds City Gallery (2006), the Venice Biennale (2005), Ars Electronica (Linz, 2002-2003).