THE WORLD OF Interview, Troy Emery

INTERVIEW, TROY EMERY

Red Footed Companion, 2022

The zoomorphic sculptures of artist Troy Emery trade in absence, abundance and distortion. Take Grampians big cat (2022), a candy-pink creature made from cotton, epoxy, aluminum and adhesive, whose ears and tail point skyward like a petrified rabbit. Or Perseus with the Head of Medusa (2022), a four-legged being with a lime green paracord coat, its dense layers looping like big scribbles. Whether plush or piled, Emery’s tactile forms ooze comfort and abundance. While full of expression, they do not wear one—every sculpture is blank and faceless. “It’s important to remember,” Emery says, “that underneath each finished form is an anatomically correct one. The process of adding the material [over this shell], abstracts and deforms the silhouette. This speaks to camouflage in the natural world but also creates a dreamlike uncertainty about what lies beneath.”

Emery works between mediums, including painting and drawing. He’s started using Midjourney—the generative software—to sketch out new ideas. His sculpture for THE WORLD OF—a stringy, tactile mass of black and red—is unique amid this body of work. As the agency’s first artistic commission, it was developed outside the thematic world of REBORN—eventually inspiring the entire project.

THE WORLD OF

Describe your current surroundings.

TROY EMERY

My studio is small and messy. There are textiles galore. Piles of tassels, polyester fringes, and pompoms spill out of open crates. Packets of screws and pins are scattered across the table and the floor. And there are piles of disassembled animal mannequins waiting for their turn.

THE WORLD OF

Can you explain the genesis of your piece for THE WORLD OF?

EMERY

Red Footed Companion (2023) is a large black cat-like form, sitting on its hind legs, with a red chest and front legs. It’s draped with a bulk of black and red polyester tassels that deform the piece slightly, making it a mound of fringe—a natural shape hidden under the bulk of its own materiality. The piece, a commission for [THE WORLD OF founder] Katerina Grant ... took several months of assembling materials and construction to deliver. It’s based on a smaller work with a similar colouration. The black and red motif makes me think of red-tailed black cockatoos.

THE WORLD OF

Your commission has already become a mascot of sorts for the agency. The word mascot implies a certain relational dynamic: a mascot is a representative, a cherished pet, domesticated and beloved. How do you relate to your finished sculptures? Do you still see them as ‘fake taxidermy’? Are they ever personified characters for you?

EMERY

The term ‘fake taxidermy’ comes from the idea that I’m putting a pelt over a form but instead of leather or fur, I’m using textiles. I think real taxidermy has its own luggage. But through presenting works that look at ideas of craft and decoration, the animal object becomes less about ecological ruination and more about how we place ourselves adjacent to nature, curating our own experiences of it.

THE WORLD OF

How has your practice evolved in the last year?

A major project from 2023 was Mountain Climber, a 3.5 meter lion sculpture that was a commission for the National Gallery of Victoria. The piece was exhibited as part of Melbourne Now ... It’s covered in 9,000 fluffy, colourful pom-poms, which form a rainbow pelt over the lion. Pom-poms are a material I haven’t used for a number of years, so there was a bit of mental olympics re-familiarising myself with the material. But I like that there are processes and materials that come in and out of use within my practice over time.

THE WORLD OF

Are you a nostalgic person?

EMERY

Not particularly. I’m more nostalgic, if that word still applies, for the ancient past and the far distant future—long lost civilisations and far away galaxies, I think that’s more [about] the sublime than nostalgia though.

FURTHER READING troyemery.net instagram.com/troyemery

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