Show Notes
Robert meet artist Emii Alrai to explore her new exhibition Lures at Carl Freedman Gallery in Margate.
Emii Alrai is an artist whose work spans material investigation in relation to memory, critique of the western museological structure and the complexity of ruins.
Working primarily in sculpture and installation, her work operates as large-scale realms built in relation to bodies of research which concern archaeology and the natural environments objects are excavated from. Her practice weaves in oral histories, inherited nostalgia and the details of language to question the rigidity of Empire and the power of hierarchy to interpolate the static presence of history. The installations physically weave together hand built clay vessels which are patinated to look like ancient artefacts, steel braces and polystyrene hewn into amorphous landscapes.
Mimicry and theatricality are at the heart of the work, with forms covered in gypsum, sand, tar and various pigments to create monumental environments that replicate the ideas of a romanticised past and the histories of archaeological excavation. In this material exploration in relation to bodies of research, Alrai’s practice allows for conversations around memory, nostalgia and language to surface critiquing current structures of rigidity and how these may stem from the lasting shadow of imperialism.
Beyond merely critiquing or reproducing these structures, the work’s bending of time and space imagines ways in which to go forward in our understanding of history, its retelling and its romanticism and opens dialogue with the ways we engage history in our construction of the future.
In 2026, Alrai completed residencies at the Tracey Emin Foundation, Margate and the Pilchuck Glass School, Tacoma (founded by Dale Chihuly).
Lures, a solo exhibition by Emii Alrai, runs @CarlFreedmanGallery from 27th September until 8th November 2026. Open from Wednesday - Sunday, 12-5 pm
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