Emily Powell (born 1990) [1] is a British painter. She was born in Liverpool, and lives in Brixham. [2] Noted for her vibrant and colourful canvases, she has presented two solo shows at Portland Gallery, and lectured at the Royal Academy of Arts. [3]
Powell has explained that she finds winters difficult due to post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the loss of her father in October 1997, when she was aged seven. In what the BBC described as a bid to fend off the "winter darkness", Powell undertook a project to recreate her experience of an expedition in the Norwegian Arctic in the form of floor-to-ceiling paintings in her studio, an 18th century barn on Dartmoor. They were exhibited in a 2024 show called Arktisk. [2]
Powell has synaesthesia, which she used in her series of paintings The Greenhouse of Commons , exhibited in 2025. In the series she depicts various politicians, including Keir Starmer and Margaret Thatcher, as floral arrangements, with colours based on the emotions they inspire in her. [4]
Later in 2025, Powell held a series of open-house tours of her family's home which she had hand-painted throughout, turning it into an artwork called The Art of Living. [3] It was put up for sale at a price of £2 million. The interior painting includes fishing boats along hallway skirting boards, a circus-themed playroom with animals wearing party hats, and a cupboard depicted as a swimming pool. Included in the sale were also 65 works Powell has produced over the past ten years, along with 20 items of painted furniture. [5]