(she/her)
Emily is a lifelong advocate for disability rights, equity, rights, social justice and inclusion. Drawing on her own lived experience – inner city Bristol upbringing, daughter of a refugee, a woman with hidden disabilities and young children – Emily brings a passion for change to her professional life. Educated at Ruskin College (Oxford), Hull (BA) and York (MA) universities, Emily was elected Disability Officer, Women’s Officer and Vice President. After securing a Rajiv Gandhi Foundation travelling studentship and teaching in rural South India, she worked for several MPs, an MEP and Minister, helping resolve casework for constituents and supporting change in Westminster as Parliamentary Researcher. She went on to work for the Commissions for Racial Equality and Equality and Human Rights, Age UK – developing the Age Action Alliance network to disrupt attitudes & action for our ageing population – Centre for Ageing Better, a housing association and the Care Quality Commission. She was Trustee for Lambeth Mind, merging with Southwark Mind and volunteered with Ruskin Readers (adult literacy project) and Black Thrive Lambeth. In 2015, she was awarded a Clore Social and RSA (Royal Society of Arts) fellowship. In 2023, she was shortlisted by the University of York alumni as Equality Champion, in recognition of her contributions. Throughout her career, Emily has brought creative and innovative thinking, her passion for social justice and inclusion and collaborative working cross party and sector (local, national and international level) to influence change and help people and places to thrive.
Accompanying video
Video description
A video of a park. The camera starts facing into a wooded area on a slightly overcast day. The camera pans away from the wooded area to show that its part of a board of trees around a vibrant green lawned area. The camera pans back and forth as Emily speaks showing the variety different greenery in the park
True Colours?

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Neon Pink, Coral, Orange, Green and White Acrylic Paints on White Canvas
Fingers of coral and orange extend from the top left of the painting in a downwards curve across the canvas. The colours around the edges of this painting are pastel and opaque, becoming more vivid towards the centre – which is highlighted with neon pink, yellow and green. There is a thread of lightness that scrawls over the top of the image.
Neon paints spread across a white canvas, using a squeegee technique. This was the artist’s first attempt at this technique and second ever time working with acrylics on canvas. The painting is bright and vibrant and appears joyful, as a friend remarked. However, this masks the true feelings experienced at the time, especially when dripping the white onto the canvas and thinking about how cancer had messed up her life.
Struggle (Unmasked)

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Teal, Purple, Black, Turquoise and White Acrylics on White Paper
An abstract painting in hues of blue, with accents of black purple and turquoise.
In the middle of the top of the canvas there is a muddle of dark purple, black and blue swirled together, Blue paint strokes starting at the top left of the canvas swoosh across the page in an arc stopping top right. Cells of white show through the paint, and splashes of black extend and accentuate the shapes.The black paint is in stark contrast to the translucency of the blue and turquoise. A figure appears to be pushing against a wall or torrent coming towards them, in the centre of the painting.
This piece was created at a subsequent art therapy class, this time using darker paints and paper rather than canvas. The artist was encouraged to really channel their feelings and not hold back. The work shows the more obvious unmasked struggles, perhaps hidden behind the cheerful neon colours in the previous artwork. Viewed as displayed, a figure can be seen in the centre of the painting, apparently pushing against a wall or torrent of paint, hence the name ‘Struggle’. Nevertheless, despite the dark colours and difficult thoughts, the art therapist commented that there is still light and hope in all the darkness.
Shit sandwich



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A textured piece of folded clay. The unglazed clay is an uneven light brown colour with specs of white and cream. Where the clay has been worked and flattened cracks are showing on the piece and the edges are broken at these points. The clay has been rolled out, rolled up and flattened out through the folds, cracks and texture of the clay.
One week, the artist was given a lump of rough feeling terracotta clay, to help explore challenging experiences and emotions during art therapy. This “shit sandwich” was the result – which accurately captures and mirrors the artist’s feelings at that time.
Happy 9th


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Kintsugi bowl
A small beautifully wonky bowl measuring about 4 inches in diameter. The outside of the bowl is unglazed showing the textured white surface of naked clay. The lip of the bowl has been glazed a green so dark it appears almost black, which ombre’s through to sea blue. The bowl has bright metallic gold lines through it, cracks where the bowl has cracked and then been pieced back together carefully with gold. On the bottom of the bowl are the letters E and G, around a heart shape, in the same metallic gold, making the inscription glisten and appear like liquid gold.
A gift to her husband for their 9th wedding anniversary, this piece was inspired by art therapy and is an example of the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi, which literally means ‘gold’ + ‘join’. The artist learned of its origins in Japanese culture, after an Emperor’s favourite vase was broken and sent away to be mended, initially unsatisfactorily.
Later a Japanese craftsman used gold lacquer to join the pieces, highlighting rather than hiding the cracks with gold, which enhanced the vases’ beauty. Also a philosophy, linked to Buddhism, the practice of intentionally breaking ceramics and restoring them with gold joins reminds us to stay optimistic when things fall apart and to celebrate the perfectly imperfect in our life.