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Tracey Emin

You Heard Me Scream, 2022

There Was So Much More of Me, 2019

Tracey Emin, born in 1963 and raised in Margate, is a British contemporary artist renowned for her provocative and autobiographical works that delve into the intricacies of her personal experiences. Emin's artistic practice spans a diverse range of media, including sculpture, painting, fabric, video, photography, and installation. She gained widespread recognition through her participation in the Turner Prize in 1999, showcasing the now-iconic installation My Bed. This uncensored presentation of her personal space, featuring an unmade bed surrounded by everyday items, propelled Emin into the public consciousness and ignited debates about the boundaries of art and personal expression. Emin centralizes her personal life in her work, openly addressing themes such as rape, abortions, and reactions to the harsh realities of love.

In the painting You Heard Me Scream, Emin depicts a young female figure with an open mouth screaming, surrounded by visual reverberations enveloping her body. The figure, evidently a younger self, may be reflecting on her rape at a young age, adding layers of emotional depth to the artwork.

The massive bronze statue located at the centre of the floor There Was So Much More of Me, is connected to Emin's early interest in monumental sculptures of the female figure. Emin dedicated three years to working with the Modern Art Foundry in New York, mastering the traditional lost-wax method of bronze casting. In this particular sculpture, she emphasizes the lower part of the body in a headless kneeling figure, lacking half of its limbs. The fragmented body, once again, alludes to trauma and Emin's past, presents the truncated form of a woman that appears both eroticized and defenseless. Kneeling as if in submission, with legs splayed apart, the figure is simultaneously bold and vulnerable, leaving viewers to decide how they relate to this moment of intimate submission.