BIOGRAPHY

Emily Gopaul (b.1981) was born in London to parents of Indo-Guyanese heritage and grew-up in the vibrant borough of Haringey, she currently resides and works in North London.

Emily graduated with a Fine Art degree in 2004 and alongside her own art practice she teaches art in schools, produces primary school art content and advocates for art in education via her company ‘The Primary Art Class’. Emily teaches (non-competitive) yoga and is a reiki practitioner, with a focus on how movement, creativity and energy healing can be used to increase well-being and help individuals to lead a more balanced, productive, creative and peaceful life, experiencing freedom from limitations and emotional stress.

At a very early age Emily became entranced by the use of art and creativity to transcend the thought-loops, anxieties and monotony of day to day life. Although not from a religious background she was always interested in finding meaning and guidance in life and exploring themes around the true nature of Self. Through creativity she began to connect with a strong sense of inner consciousness and this pursuit for a deeper truth has expanded to include explorations into alternative therapies and consciousness expanding experiences.

Aged 18 Emily discovered yoga and mediation and her painting style and subject began to form alongside her ‘spiritual journey’. Emily’s work is less concerned with outcome and more interested in process and and how creativity and art can serve as one vehicle for connecting with a universal state of consciousnesses which can in turn serve us in our day to day lives.

Most recently Emily’s paintings stem out of a desire to represent the inner experience of non identification with the body as accessed through meditation and other methods. The paintings are created from within a certain meditative and creative state and the works respond to the potential of the medium. In recent works she draws on her experiences of spirituality as a woman and explores themes of goddess worship and feminine empowerment through connection with universal feminine energies.

Emily uses, most frequently, the medium of acrylic paint, Indian inks and texturising materials, to express formlessness and unseen energies, sometimes intermingled with nature, historical deities and symbols, personal memories and wider sociopolitical themes. Her paintings at once depict the unseen external and internal world in a sort of abstract-expressionist montage of the human/spiritual experience. The works represent an expression of the universal themes of chaos, order and creation.

Yoga & Well-being – Emily can work with individuals and small groups to lead workshops around yoga, creativity and well-being.

Artworks – Emily can work on commissions for individuals or public spaces.

Art Education Consultancy & Advocacy – Emily’s book Teaching Primary Art and Design, published by Bloomsbury is available to buy now, including at Tate bookstores. She has worked with organisations such as BBC Learning to create Primary Art content and resources. She has written articles and blogposts and holds a part-time art teaching post. See theprimaryartclass for more on Emily’s work in this field.