Artist of the day: Artist of the Day, November 9, 2022: Emily Floyd, an Australian public art artist, sculptor and printmaker (#1695)

Emily Floyd (1972) is an Australian artist working in public art, sculpture and print making. Her family were toy makers in traditional European styles — carefully crafted of wood. She learned the skills and use of machinery, which are reflected and used in many of her sculptural works. She has been commissioned to produce multiple public art sculptures in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.

Floyd was born in Melbourne, Victoria. Her first tertiary studies were in psychology and sociology, and then she turned to graphic design and did some travelling. She returned to study metal working, and created large structures. In her mid-twenties she decided to go to art school. When she applied for art school she didn't know if she would study metal work or sculpture. The faculty announced that she was clearly a sculptor. She credits the various disciplines she worked in with giving her technical skills that helped her. Floyd continues to experiment with technologies in her studio.

Floyd qualified with a Bachelor of Fine Art, Sculpture degree in 1999 from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (now RMIT University), Melbourne.

Floyd works in two studios, for different media. She carves her sculptures in a backyard woodworking studio, using the machinery she inherited from her toy-making family. At the Abbotsford Convent complex in Melbourne, in a "clean" studio, she executes paintings, works on paper and print-making. She finds she works 8–10 hours in studio, and then must work on administrative matters with projects and art institutions.

Floyd's paintings and works on paper often involve text with carefully chosen type fonts, colours and composition. These works invite discussion and focus on many political, cultural and social issues.

Many of her large scale sculptures evoke wooden children's toys. Floyd has completed several public art works in Melbourne including at the Docklands and for the Eastlink Motorway.

Floyd has also been influenced by philosophy, especially that of Hungarian Agnes Heller. (Floyd is of Hungarian background.) Floyd became drawn to Heller's writing on the social value of art. In February 2019 presented Anti-totalitarian Vectors at the Anna Schwartz Gallery in Melbourne. Floyd has been quoted as explaining this exhibition of multiple sculptures as a playful and inviting format for people, especially young people, to encounter philosophical ideas. The exhibition included painted balloons with quotes from Heller. Heller once wrote that Philosopy is the Owl of Minerva. The exhibition was presided over by a large white owl with a lantern hanging off its beak.

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