Tracy Emin is a British, mixed media artist. She has worked in various different mediums. All of her work uses a confessional, personal style. She addresses issues of sexual trauma, female objectification, and the failures of capitalism.
One of Emin's most famous works is Everyone I Have Ever Slept with 1963-1995. It was a tent appliquéd with the names of everyone she has slept with. These included sexual partners, plus relatives she slept with as a child, her twin brother, and her two aborted children. Although often talked about as a shameless exhibition of her sexual conquests, really it is a confessional piece about intimacy in a more general sense, although the title purposely invites misinterpretation. The needlework which is integral to this work was used by Emin in a number of her other pieces. Needlework and sewing are mediums traditionally seen as "women's work" and Emin plays with these notions, elevating craft to a fine art status.
Emin's drawings and paintings are frequently graphic and violent, depicting the female body as a site of horror and trauma. Emin unabashedly uses her personal experiences. She purposefully puts herself in the position of the abject feminine body to make a broader commentary on the nature of female experience.
"People try constantly to use me, and I hate it."
"Thinking about the narcissism behind what I do — the self, self, self — and how difficult it is for me to really share things, even though I think I am sharing all the time."
"And even though my heart had felt completely pounded and trampled on, like a star that had died, part of me was still shining. I took on the responsibility of that being my existence. My little light could be useful somewhere in the world."
One of Emin's most famous works is Everyone I Have Ever Slept with 1963-1995. It was a tent appliquéd with the names of everyone she has slept with. These included sexual partners, plus relatives she slept with as a child, her twin brother, and her two aborted children. Although often talked about as a shameless exhibition of her sexual conquests, really it is a confessional piece about intimacy in a more general sense, although the title purposely invites misinterpretation. The needlework which is integral to this work was used by Emin in a number of her other pieces. Needlework and sewing are mediums traditionally seen as "women's work" and Emin plays with these notions, elevating craft to a fine art status.
Emin's drawings and paintings are frequently graphic and violent, depicting the female body as a site of horror and trauma. Emin unabashedly uses her personal experiences. She purposefully puts herself in the position of the abject feminine body to make a broader commentary on the nature of female experience.
"People try constantly to use me, and I hate it."
"Thinking about the narcissism behind what I do — the self, self, self — and how difficult it is for me to really share things, even though I think I am sharing all the time."
"And even though my heart had felt completely pounded and trampled on, like a star that had died, part of me was still shining. I took on the responsibility of that being my existence. My little light could be useful somewhere in the world."