What’s it like in Emilys life?

My work moves across film, painting, sculpture and design. To me, it’s all one practice.

I follow a story into whatever medium it needs, whether it be my own or someone else, or something entirely fictitious.

I use emotion to start conversations about things that matter to me, the result is a continuous outpouring of creation, art in all its forms,
because life is too complex for one.

my story

I’ve always wanted to know how things work and how they’re made: objects, materials, social systems. That curiosity is the thread through everything I do.

I started in sustainable design, and I turned to film as a way to explain complex science to people who would never pick up a research paper. That became Mycelium Made, my first film. It led me into the regenerative materials world, where I built the brand for Fungi Solutions from a four-word brief (clean, circular, myco-cycling, fungi) and later made a sculptural collection for Polestar.

Today I work across film, painting and sculpture, and I choose the medium by what the message needs. My films and commissioned work bridge art and science, and use emotion to start a conversation. My paintings are different. They’re personal, they’re about my own story, and they’re where I get to work with feeling instead of a plan.

It looks like a lot of different careers. It’s one. I never wanted a linear path. I wanted to try everything I could in the time we get.

what i do

Film. I write, direct and produce documentary and narrative work, end to end, from first draft to final delivery. I co-founded Nice Film Co. in 2019. My first film, Mycelium Made, won Best Film at the Unscene Film Competition, and I’m currently in post-production for Side Quest Stories, a feature impact documentary.

Painting. Instinctive, embodied and rooted in feeling rather than planning. This is where I make work for myself, and where my senses find some calm. Every scribble is a “but what if…”, and every scratch back is me looking for the answer under the layers I built up. Originals are available.

Sculpture and materials. I make sculpture from recycled, regenerative and found materials: three commissioned pieces for Polestar, a chair from a fallen tree, paintings over vases I found on the side of the road. I like giving things a second life.

Creative direction and design. I’ve worked with brands and organisations in regenerative and circular design on creative direction, events, activations and photography. They come to me with a complex message about sustainability or systems, and I translate it through art and design.

not my words

  • "When looking at this collection of works, it’s difficult to believe that this is Medbury’s first foray into sculptural art. Though, it should come as no surprise. "

    Polestar