Believe In Extraordinary
Signed Print

Emin was born in the far south of London in 1963. She grew up in the midst of a blooming technicolour age referred to as ‘The Swinging Sixties’. Her adolescent years were characterised by a youth-driven cultural revolution built on modern and self-indulgent ways of thinking.

Emin’s outstanding artistry is defined by her innate ability to convey emotion through the process of drawing. Her works on paper are technically accomplished and manifest her devotion to her craft. She is an expressionist whose jagged contours and rapid lines convey our anxiety at being human when confronted with the complexities of life. What better creature to envelop all of these touchstones than a bird.

Succeeding Emin's Birds from 2011, Believe In Extraordinary unfolds as if we are encountering an invisible hand embroidering the outline of a tiny bird perched on a leafy branch. This drawn scene from 2015 is punctuated by the work’s popping title, inscribed below the composition in Emin's writing. The artist has chosen a robin for this piece, the symbol of divine sacrifice and rebirth. The contemplative bird sits silently and peacefully, its faint watery contours like a halo, anticipating spiritual awakening.