Emily Stevenhagen is a multi-disciplinary artist based in The Hague, The Netherlands. She is originally from the UK (London), with Dutch and German heritage.
Her work explores the subtleties of everyday intimacies in the connections we have with others, with our surrounding and with ourselves. Through various forms of expression, such as painting, performance, installation, writing and video, her work explores what role a depiction can have in our reimagining and reevaluation of memory and the past. Using her personal archive as reference material, the work plays with the boundaries of the uncanny, using abstract blurred depictions to reflect inner emotions back onto an audience. Through this, her painterly studies are an expression of an atmosphere and a subjective mood, separate from time, merging past, present and future.
Alongside her practice Emily is actively involved in the art scene through her curatorial and publishing collaborations. Since 2022, she has cofounded two artist duos, 'Bad Penny Publications' (2023) and 'WaitingSnake Studios' (2024).
Emily is also a freelancer in the theatre scene, working as a dresser at The National Opera and Ballet in Amsterdam.
Her work explores the subtleties of everyday intimacies in the connections we have with others, with our surrounding and with ourselves. Through various forms of expression, such as painting, performance, installation, writing and video, her work explores what role a depiction can have in our reimagining and reevaluation of memory and the past. Using her personal archive as reference material, the work plays with the boundaries of the uncanny, using abstract blurred depictions to reflect inner emotions back onto an audience. Through this, her painterly studies are an expression of an atmosphere and a subjective mood, separate from time, merging past, present and future.
Alongside her practice Emily is actively involved in the art scene through her curatorial and publishing collaborations. Since 2022, she has cofounded two artist duos, 'Bad Penny Publications' (2023) and 'WaitingSnake Studios' (2024).
Emily is also a freelancer in the theatre scene, working as a dresser at The National Opera and Ballet in Amsterdam.
BIOGRAPHY:
Sept. 2020 - July 2022
MA Artistic Research at The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.
Oct. 2017 - Aug. 2020
BFA Fine Art student at The Ruskin School of Art, The University of Oxford, St Catherine’s College.
Sept. 2016 - July 2017
Full time art student on a foundation course at The Royal Drawing School.
Sept. 2020 - July 2022
MA Artistic Research at The Royal Academy of Art, The Hague.
Oct. 2017 - Aug. 2020
BFA Fine Art student at The Ruskin School of Art, The University of Oxford, St Catherine’s College.
Sept. 2016 - July 2017
Full time art student on a foundation course at The Royal Drawing School.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
May - Aug. 2023
‘On the windowsill overlooking the bins’. Stichting la Jetée. Amsterdam, Netherlands
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
June-Aug. 2024
'KAF Young Art Prize 2024'
Krupa Art Foundation
Wroclaw, Poland
April-Sept. 2024
'Kringplank'
Stichting de Kring
Amsterdam, Netherlands
May 2023
‘In the shelves above the bars: Artists work in Horeca’.
Amare
The Hague, Netherlands
Oct. 2022
'OYO6'.
Haagse Kunstkring
Den Haag. Netherlands.
April 2022
'Home: Frontiers of the domestic'.
Assendelftstraat 16D
Den Haag. Netherlands.
April 2022
'A Scenic Route to Self'
Nest
Den Haag. Netherlands.
May 2021
'In Pending Waters'.
De Helena
Den Haag. Netherlands.
Mar. 2021
'Sunkissed//Fog Off'
Quarter
Den Haag. Netherlands
Jan. - Feb. 2020
‘The Ground is Easier to Walk On’.
St Catherine’s College
Oxford. UK
May 2019
St Catherine's College annual art exhibition.
St Catherine's College
Oxford. UK
Jan. 2019
'An Insight'.
St Catherine's College
Oxford. UK
July 2018
The Art of Anatomy.
The Barn Gallery
Oxford. UK
May - Aug. 2023
‘On the windowsill overlooking the bins’. Stichting la Jetée. Amsterdam, Netherlands
GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
June-Aug. 2024
'KAF Young Art Prize 2024'
Krupa Art Foundation
Wroclaw, Poland
April-Sept. 2024
'Kringplank'
Stichting de Kring
Amsterdam, Netherlands
May 2023
‘In the shelves above the bars: Artists work in Horeca’.
Amare
The Hague, Netherlands
Oct. 2022
'OYO6'.
Haagse Kunstkring
Den Haag. Netherlands.
April 2022
'Home: Frontiers of the domestic'.
Assendelftstraat 16D
Den Haag. Netherlands.
April 2022
'A Scenic Route to Self'
Nest
Den Haag. Netherlands.
May 2021
'In Pending Waters'.
De Helena
Den Haag. Netherlands.
Mar. 2021
'Sunkissed//Fog Off'
Quarter
Den Haag. Netherlands
Jan. - Feb. 2020
‘The Ground is Easier to Walk On’.
St Catherine’s College
Oxford. UK
May 2019
St Catherine's College annual art exhibition.
St Catherine's College
Oxford. UK
Jan. 2019
'An Insight'.
St Catherine's College
Oxford. UK
July 2018
The Art of Anatomy.
The Barn Gallery
Oxford. UK
RESIDENCIES AND UPCOMING
July-Sept 2026
Artist in Residence at Cordts Art Foundation, as part of Women Artists in Residence on the Island of Schwanenwerder.
Berlin, Germany
July - Aug. 2023
Artist in Residence: Bad Penny Publications at Bibliotheek Den Haag
A residency funded by Bibliotheek Den Haag in which as Bad Penny Publications we created a newspaper titled ‘Language Love’, through research and experimental writing conducted with the libraries general public.
July-Sept 2026
Artist in Residence at Cordts Art Foundation, as part of Women Artists in Residence on the Island of Schwanenwerder.
Berlin, Germany
July - Aug. 2023
Artist in Residence: Bad Penny Publications at Bibliotheek Den Haag
A residency funded by Bibliotheek Den Haag in which as Bad Penny Publications we created a newspaper titled ‘Language Love’, through research and experimental writing conducted with the libraries general public.
CURATION AND FOUNDATIONS
WaitingSnake Studios:
WaitingSnake Studios is a curator duo, co-founded together with artist Clara Sharell in 2023. We organise exhibitions together with emerging artists. Our collaboration started with an ongoing series of exhibitions titled 'Artists work in Horeca', where we work with the Horeca department in cultural spaces, mainly theatres around the Netherlands (where artists often work part time to sustain their practices). Since then, we have curated an exhibition called 'Trial and Errrorrr', which invited artists to exhibition 'works in progress'. With this exhibition we aimed to fill a gap left after leaving the art academy, of peer reviewing and reflection. As a result, the curation of the exhibition was led by a series of critique sessions held with participants in the weeks before the opening.
Sept. 2024
'Shout into the crowd: Artists work in Horeca'
Het Nationale Theater
The Hague, Netherlands
https://www.hnt.nl/pQDVm6s5/shout-into-the-crowd--artists-work-in-horeca
July 2024
'Trial and Errrorrr'
See Lab
The Hague, Netherlands
https://www.seelab.nl/program/2024/trialanderrrorrr
May 2023
‘In the shelves above the bars: Artists work in Horeca’
Amare
The Hague, Netherlands
https://www.amare.nl/nl/pQgoZIm/amarestories/in-the-shelves-above-the-bars--artists-work-in-horeca
Bad Penny Publications:
Bad Penny Publications is a writing and publishing platform I founded together with artist Noor Remmen in 2023. We create zines together with artists and the general public with the aim to introduce 'artistic research' as an accessible method with which to conduct personal, emotional, collective research. We also host creative writing workshops for adults and children (frequently in collaboration with Bibliotheek Den Haag)
May 2024
Participated in Ghent Art Book Fair, as Bad Penny Publications
Sept. 2023
Launch of ‘Language Love’ zine created as the outcome of their residency at Bibliotheek Den Haag.
Mar. 2023
Beginning of series of creative writing workshops given at Bibliotheek Den Haag
Mar. 2023
Launch of ‘Handbook for the Frequently Disappointed’, the first issue of Bad Penny Publications
De Barthkapel, The Hague, Netherlands
WaitingSnake Studios:
WaitingSnake Studios is a curator duo, co-founded together with artist Clara Sharell in 2023. We organise exhibitions together with emerging artists. Our collaboration started with an ongoing series of exhibitions titled 'Artists work in Horeca', where we work with the Horeca department in cultural spaces, mainly theatres around the Netherlands (where artists often work part time to sustain their practices). Since then, we have curated an exhibition called 'Trial and Errrorrr', which invited artists to exhibition 'works in progress'. With this exhibition we aimed to fill a gap left after leaving the art academy, of peer reviewing and reflection. As a result, the curation of the exhibition was led by a series of critique sessions held with participants in the weeks before the opening.
Sept. 2024
'Shout into the crowd: Artists work in Horeca'
Het Nationale Theater
The Hague, Netherlands
https://www.hnt.nl/pQDVm6s5/shout-into-the-crowd--artists-work-in-horeca
July 2024
'Trial and Errrorrr'
See Lab
The Hague, Netherlands
https://www.seelab.nl/program/2024/trialanderrrorrr
May 2023
‘In the shelves above the bars: Artists work in Horeca’
Amare
The Hague, Netherlands
https://www.amare.nl/nl/pQgoZIm/amarestories/in-the-shelves-above-the-bars--artists-work-in-horeca
Bad Penny Publications:
Bad Penny Publications is a writing and publishing platform I founded together with artist Noor Remmen in 2023. We create zines together with artists and the general public with the aim to introduce 'artistic research' as an accessible method with which to conduct personal, emotional, collective research. We also host creative writing workshops for adults and children (frequently in collaboration with Bibliotheek Den Haag)
May 2024
Participated in Ghent Art Book Fair, as Bad Penny Publications
Sept. 2023
Launch of ‘Language Love’ zine created as the outcome of their residency at Bibliotheek Den Haag.
Mar. 2023
Beginning of series of creative writing workshops given at Bibliotheek Den Haag
Mar. 2023
Launch of ‘Handbook for the Frequently Disappointed’, the first issue of Bad Penny Publications
De Barthkapel, The Hague, Netherlands
RECENT FILM PROJECTS
April 2023
Glued and Screwed Edition 8: Recollect - Poet - Tree
A collaboration with WYSIWYG, curating a program of films that in their own abstract ways focus on memories and forgotten things. Filmhuis Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
Feb. 2022
Offset/Roots: WYSIWYG
I was interviewed as part of a video portrait series of artists, designers and makers who express their work and ideas through the medium of video and film. Offset is a project by 'wysiwyg' in collaboration with Form and Labour (sound) and Thomas van Poppel (video and editing). It is presented during Roots Film Festival at Filmhuis Den Haag. The Hague, Netherlands.
April 2023
Glued and Screwed Edition 8: Recollect - Poet - Tree
A collaboration with WYSIWYG, curating a program of films that in their own abstract ways focus on memories and forgotten things. Filmhuis Den Haag, The Hague, Netherlands
Feb. 2022
Offset/Roots: WYSIWYG
I was interviewed as part of a video portrait series of artists, designers and makers who express their work and ideas through the medium of video and film. Offset is a project by 'wysiwyg' in collaboration with Form and Labour (sound) and Thomas van Poppel (video and editing). It is presented during Roots Film Festival at Filmhuis Den Haag. The Hague, Netherlands.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
July 2022
‘I Can Smell Your House on Your Hat’
Catalog
Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, Den Haag
Created together with students of the Master Artistic Research program, with Babak Affrassiabi.
June 2020
‘CANCELLED’
Catalog
Oxford University
CANCELLED is a publication of 60 postcards made in lockdown by graduating students and Visiting Tutors at The Ruskin School of Art.
July 2022
‘I Can Smell Your House on Your Hat’
Catalog
Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, Den Haag
Created together with students of the Master Artistic Research program, with Babak Affrassiabi.
June 2020
‘CANCELLED’
Catalog
Oxford University
CANCELLED is a publication of 60 postcards made in lockdown by graduating students and Visiting Tutors at The Ruskin School of Art.
AWARDS AND GRANTS
June 2024
Shortlisted for the KAF Young Art Prize 2024
Wroclaw, Poland
June 2019
Research Travel Award. Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom
June 2018
John Farthing Prize (2018). Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom
June 2024
Shortlisted for the KAF Young Art Prize 2024
Wroclaw, Poland
June 2019
Research Travel Award. Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom
June 2018
John Farthing Prize (2018). Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom
THEATRE WORK:
Sept. 2022 - Present
Dresser for the National Ballet in Amsterdam.
Nov. 2019 - Feb. 2020
Supervising set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘Rent’, which ran at St Catherine’s College in Oxford in February 2020.
Feb. - Nov. 2019
Set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘Spring Awakening’, which ran at ‘The Oxford Playhouse’ in Oxford in November 2019.
Feb. - May 2019
Set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ which ran at Pembroke College in Oxford in June 2019.
Feb. - Mar. 2019
Set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘The C-Bomb’, which ran at the ‘Theatro Technis’ in London in March 2019.
Oct. 2018 - Feb. 2019
Assistant set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘Made in Dagenham’, which ran at ‘The Oxford Playhouse’ in Oxford in February 2019.
Oct. 2018 - Feb. 2019
Set designer for the student led theatre production ’Numbers’, which ran at ‘The Michael Pilch Studio’ in Oxford in February 2019, and from there toured the UK as Oxford University drama society's offering for the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
Sept. 2022 - Present
Dresser for the National Ballet in Amsterdam.
Nov. 2019 - Feb. 2020
Supervising set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘Rent’, which ran at St Catherine’s College in Oxford in February 2020.
Feb. - Nov. 2019
Set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘Spring Awakening’, which ran at ‘The Oxford Playhouse’ in Oxford in November 2019.
Feb. - May 2019
Set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ which ran at Pembroke College in Oxford in June 2019.
Feb. - Mar. 2019
Set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘The C-Bomb’, which ran at the ‘Theatro Technis’ in London in March 2019.
Oct. 2018 - Feb. 2019
Assistant set designer for the student led theatre production of ‘Made in Dagenham’, which ran at ‘The Oxford Playhouse’ in Oxford in February 2019.
Oct. 2018 - Feb. 2019
Set designer for the student led theatre production ’Numbers’, which ran at ‘The Michael Pilch Studio’ in Oxford in February 2019, and from there toured the UK as Oxford University drama society's offering for the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
