about

Esmé Matthews is a contemporary artist whose practice explores the life cycle of past and present objects, specifically how they shift and evolve under the influence of the natural environment within the Anthropocene. Concerned with the irreversible influences of humans on the natural world, her work involves care and attentiveness to discarded and forgotten items found on the edges of our daily lives. Working primarily with rusted steel, discarded objects, and other industrial materials, she investigates the life cycle of these objects by pushing material boundaries beyond their intended use. Her work often includes body-horror, combining nursing nipples with rusted nails to animate and anthropomorphize her sculptures.

By embracing deterioration as part of her creative process, Esmé aims to question capitalist notions of value, permanence, and utility, highlighting transformation as a form of renewal. Ultimately, her work is rooted in a rejection of industrialization and modernization contrasted with a desire to return to the natural world. At its core, her work examines contemporary climate sentiments, the influence of our relationships to everyday items, and our subsequent disregard for them. Currently, she is investigating post-apocalyptic realities in an attempt to make sense of current social dialogues surrounding climate change, resource extraction, and the exploitation of the natural world.

Esmé is currently pursuing her Masters of Fine Art at the Chelsea College of Art (UAL) in London, UK.