Engaging with the indexical mark of our milieu
Like time, an invisible force shaping our lives, plastic also exerts a lasting yet often unseen imprint on our existence. Geological Imprints: Strata of Substance reflects the complex interplay between organic and inorganic materials, echoing the intricate connections between human and non-human entities across geological time. Working on (and with) 150-million-year-old Bavarian Solnhofen limestone, the intersection between processes of traditional stone lithography and the discarded plastic printer toner contribute to the visual language of lithography in contemporary art to bring greater attention to our conscious and unconscious relationship with plastic in the current geological epoch of the Anthropocene. Parker's interest in the aesthetic qualities of organic substrates and plastic throughout the making process leaves her works open to unstable, unexpected and irregular results that point toward the past and to a future yet to be imprinted. Through these irregularities, her work encourages us to consider our own conscious and unconscious entanglements with a material that defines our epoch. Through objects of contemplation and a reconfiguration of the "geological and disposable" Parker’s practice seeks both Nicolas Bourriaud's "new aesthetic" alongside the grammar of contemporary printmaking to offer a deeper understanding, relationship and engagement with the trace of our milieu.
Emily Parker is an artist and arts worker based in Brisbane (Meanjin). She holds a Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours) and dual bachelor degrees from Griffith University with a Bachelor of Fine Art (Expanded Practice) and Bachelor of Business, both completed with distinction and a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Music) from UQ. Parker has exhibited her work since 2018 and in 2023, was a finalist in the Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize at Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney. In October 2024, she was awarded the Iain Turnbull Award in recognition of her achievements within print culture and future potential in the art of printmaking. In 2025 she was a finalist in the Walyup Fremantle Print Prize and On Paper in Spain. Parker’s work is held in the Griffith University Art Museum, State Library of Queensland and the QAGOMA ArtPal Postcard archive, alongside private collections in France and Australia.
Education
2023 - 2024 Bachelor of Visual Art (Honours)
Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University
2018 - 2023 Bachelor of Fine Art (Expanded Practice) with Distinction /Bachelor of Business with Distinction
Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University
2017 Paris Summer Program
Paris College of Art
2015 Paris Summer Program
Paris College of Art
2009 - 2012 Bachelor of Creative Arts
University of Queensland
Solo Exhibitions
2022
Nomenclature of the Anthropocene
Grey Street Gallery - Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
Group Exhibitions
2025
On Paper
Tinta Invisible, Barcelona, Spain
Disruption
Webb Gallery - Queensland College of Art & Design
2024
QCAD Grad Show (Honours & Masters)
White Box - Queensland College of Art & Design, Brisbane
2023
Printed Reverie
Pop Gallery, Brisbane
Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize Exhibition
Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney
The Naked Landscape
Pop Gallery, Brisbane
Forbidden
Grey Street Gallery - Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
2022
Mount Alvernia College Art Show - Guest Artist
Kedron, Brisbane
Retrace
Project Gallery - Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
Elevate - Post Datum
BackDock Arts, Brisbane
Aspect Artshow
Goondiwindi Show, Goondiwindi
The Small Art Show
Petrie Terrace Gallery, Brisbane
Shades of Life
Webb Gallery - Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
Megalo Print Studio “Future Proof” National Graduate Exhibition
Online, Canberra
2021
Glimpse
Side Gallery, Brisbane
Unpacked - A celebration of Print at QCA
Impress Printmakers Studio & Gallery, Brisbane
print is everything | everything is print
Glass Box - Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
Revival
Project Gallery - Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
Aspect Artshow
Goondiwindi Show, Goondiwindi
3E
4017 , Brisbane
Megalo Print Studio 2nd Relief Exhibition
Online, Canberra
2020
Graduate Exhibition
Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
First Light
Queensland Centre of Photography - Maud Street Gallery, Brisbane
2019
Image/Object
Machinery Street Galleries, Brisbane
2017
BRHS 50th Exhibition
Bracken Ridge High School, Brisbane
2009
Creative Nine
Merivale Street Gallery, Brisbane
Collections
Mount Alvernia College
Griffith University Art Museum
State Library of Queensland
QAGOMA ArtPal Postcard Archive
Private Collections (France, Australia)
Curatorial
2025
Tim Mosely: revisiting the bush - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Edition One: Marking the First Year - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Claudia Husband: a/drift - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Daniel Clifford: Wherever they put you and wherever I’ll be - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Melissa J Harvey: The Guardians - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
From the Fred Genis Collection: Marks of a Master - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Miguel Andres Villanueva: Transitory Stories - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Freyja Fristad: Between Vessel and Void - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
PARKER Contemporary - Aotearoa Art Fair, Auckland, New Zealand
Alethea Richter: Pulse Systems - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Enduring Proof: 30 Years of Contemporary Printmaking
Ross Woodrow: Order from Ruins - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Matthew Hurdle: Should I remember you… - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
Summer Impressions - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
PARKER Contemporary - Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
2024
Contemporaries - PARKER Contemporary, South Brisbane
PARKER Contemporary - Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney
This Intimate Life - Grey Street Gallery, Queensland College of Art and Design
Subverting Surface - Webb Gallery, Queensland College of Art and Design
2023
Printed Reverie - Pop Gallery, Fortitude Valley Brisbane
Publications
/əˈtræk.ʃən/ (attraction) Catalogue Forward, Queensland College of Art and Design, 2023
Art/Edit Magazine - Issue #34 November 2022
Unpacked Catalogue Forward, Queensland College of Art and Design, 2021
Prizes
2025 Walyup Fremantle Print Prize, Perth (Finalist)
2025 On Paper Tinta Invisible, Spain (Finalist)
2024 Queensland College of Art and Design Turnbull Award
2023 Environmental Art & Design Prize (Works on Paper Finalist)
2022 Queensland College of Art Turnbull Award (Shortlisted)
2022 Laurenson Family Imagine Bursary
2022 Artst In Residency (3 mths) - Impress Printmakers Studio & Gallery
2021 Aspect Art Show First Prize - Printmaking
2017 Gordon & Leanne Bennet Encouragement Award