Emma Prempeh’s painting practice offers a fresh and emotionally layered voice in contemporary art. Based in London and drawing on her Ghanaian and Caribbean heritage, she explores themes of diaspora, family, memory, home and identity through richly textured canvases that feel both cinematic and intimate. Her work often incorporates schlag metal—an imitation gold leaf that oxidises over time—so the paintings literally change as they age, echoing the fluidity of memory and belonging. “Most of my influences come from looking inward at memories of events, people and places as I try to understand myself, my lineage and our shared realities”, the artist told The Wick.

Prempeh’s recent solo exhibitions, including Belonging: In Between at Tiwani Contemporary in Lagos and The Nearness of Elsewhere in Hull, reflect her growing international presence and commitment to connecting personal and community narratives. She has also featured in prestigious group shows and won notable awards early in her career, such as the Ingram Collection Purchase Prize and the Valerie Beston Trust Arts award. What makes her especially compelling is the way she weaves personal history with broader cultural questions, creating paintings that are visually rich and conceptually resonant, marking her out as a significant emerging artist on the contemporary scene.

Adelaide Bannerman, curatorial director at Tiwani Contemporary, is Prempeh’s champion for The Wick. “I feel truly fortunate to be working closely with Emma Prempeh, who was introduced to me in 2020 by her then mentor on the New Contemporaries programme, Benjamin Cook, Founding Director of LUX, the UK organisation dedicated to supporting artists working with the moving image.” She said. “From the very beginning, her sensitivity and confidence in staging her own and her loved ones past and present life experiences and memories stood out and continues to resonate. The distinct material metaphors in her work, such as the Schlag metal that slowly transitions over time, her interpretation of ‘dark matter’ grounding the foundational layers of her paintings, and the moving image interventions, create rich, experiential possibilities. These elements not only excite her practice but are generously shared with audiences internationally. Through her work, we witness and are invited into conversation with Prempeh’s core questions, at once universal and intimately personal and culturally specific: how does time inform and shape the dimensionality of our lives? In slowing and stilling these moments, she opens a contemplative space, gently encouraging us to sit with these questions for ourselves too.”

Whereas her previous body of work has explored her mother’s memories and past, this new body of work dives into the complexities of her patrilineage in Ghana. This came about naturally, as Prempeh is currently preparing to travel to Accra for a residency at dot.ateliers, “where I get to return to my father’s world”. The new work is set to be showcased in two upcoming solo shows later this year “that I can’t quite yet announce but I can’t wait to share a new body of work.”