Emma Barone Shoe Artwork

from Live Encounters Magazine Volume Two December 2020

Dr Margi Prideaux Speaking Unspoken Truth

Emma Barone is a contemporary visual artist. She makes still life and landscape paintings in acrylic on canvas. She studied animation and has an eclectic design background that ranges from interior design to architectural ceramics, and from stained glass to jewellery design. Barone’s work has been featured in various publications including Live Encounters Magazine, The Irish Arts Review, Senior Times, House and Home, and the Sunday Independent; and she has published two books in collaboration with the Hennessy Award winning writer, Eileen Casey. Emma has exhibited extensively throughout Ireland, with 22 solo exhibitions under her belt, her work is in private and public collections including the Amsterdam World Trade Centre, Midlands Regional Hospital, Offaly County Council and Tullamore DEW Visitors Centre. https://www.emmabarone.com/

An external covering for the foot?

An unhealthy obsession? Or a peek into the inner workings of her soul?

Shoes are a template on which I base my artistic experiments. I feel compelled to use shoes as subjects because of the way the shape of the shoe lends itself to the my choice of unusual colour schemes. Shoes have a certain presence, they have an instant recognition by the viewer.

Each style of shoe is almost like a sculpture in structure form, amalgamated in the dimension of art.

Mixing & combining nature with manmade… the natural world with the material world, this is what intrigued me to pursue the idea of making paintings of shoes.

This isn’t so surprising. From an early age we learn that shoes have magical power. They promise romance, excitement and the possibility of transformation. Heels to Heaven