Born in Wales and based in Nottingham UK, Emily Catherine is a visual artist and illustrator whose practice is deeply influenced by Hip Hop culture, Rap, and their neighbouring genres.

Drawing on the complex socio-cultural history of Hip Hop and its ‘Five Pillars’ - encompassing lyricism, sound, dancing, visual art and historical awareness - Emily’s practice is characterised by a multidisciplinary approach that blends diverse artistic styles. Primarily working with acrylic, charcoal and ink to create detailed and vibrant narrative scenes and portraits, her work spans album covers, wall-based works, murals and graffiti. 

 

Since launching her professional career in 2015, Emily Catherine has collaborated extensively with prominent figures of the Hip Hop scene, including Pharoahe Monch, Tha God Fahim, Micall Parknsun and Juga-Naut. As a long-time artistic collaborator of the New York based rapper and producer, Your Old Droog, Emily was commissioned to design several of his album covers, notably his 2019 It Wasn’t Even Close and Space Bar in 2021.

 

For Emily Catherine, Hip Hop is a way of perceiving, confronting and experiencing life, and it is this experience she translates into visual allegories and stories both in her commissions, and in her personal body of work. “I'm fascinated with visual storytelling,” she explains. “I want to take viewers on a journey, but I don’t want my work to be too prescriptive - I want to allow people to create a relationship with my art, just like the way they would with music.”

 

Apart from her narrative approach, Emily’s work is also underpinned by a strong social message about equality, marginalisation and community – themes that are at the core of Hip Hop culture.  “The idea of collective struggle is central to my work” she notes. “I hope that just how I recognise my own struggles through the words and music of others, viewers will experience something similar when looking at my art.” Based on the belief that ultimately, it is the “audience making meaning of a piece,” her visual practice is strongly rooted in the idea that looking, akin to listening, holds the power to incite introspection, contemplation, and connection.

 

Emily Catherine has been published internationally, both in print and online and has exhibited her work in a variety of well-known venues such as the Design Museum in London, Hung, Drawn & Sorted in Brick Lane, and Rough Trade in Nottingham. Her Psychopomps Painting series, showcased at the New Art Exchange Open in 2019, received the John E Wright Award that same year.​