Tracey Emin Tracey Emin was born on July 3, 1963 in Croydon, South London, England. Emin grew up in England along with her twin brother Paul. Her father owned a hotel in Margate, but when the business failed, the family suffered financially (“Tracey Emin Biography”). It was also said that her father had two families that he split his time between and fathered around 11 children (Barber). She had some troubled times during her adolescence including being raped at the age of 13. After her disturbing and confusing childhood and adolescence, Emin wanted to study fashion edway College of Design in 1980. After working for several years as an administrator for Hangman Books, which specialized in children’s poetry, Emin decided to persue a career in art. She graduated from Madistone College of Art in 1986 and moved to London. She then went to the Royal College of Art and earned a Master of Arts degree in painting in 1986 (“Tracey Emin Biography”). In 1994, Emin had her first solo show, "My Major Retrospective," at the White Cube art gallery in London. The autobiographical exhibit consisted of photographs, pictures of earlier paintings and other personal objects, including a pack of cigarettes an uncle was holding when he was killed in a car crash. This public display of Emin's intimate life details soon became a trademark of her work (“Tracey Emin Biography”). Tracey Emin also uses her controversial personal life as inspiration to create her artwork. She mainly creates drawings, paintings, and sculptures. As an example of her work about her personal life is “My Bed”. This piece was her own bed in a lived in state that followed a period of depression due to a failed relationship (“Tracey Emin Biography”). She also has several drawings depicting trauma from the after effects of abortions. Emin also frequently works with fabric in the form of cutting it out into lettering and sewing it onto other material. She collects fabric from curtains, bed sheets and linen
Tracey Emin Tracey Emin was born on July 3, 1963 in Croydon, South London, England. Emin grew up in England along with her twin brother Paul. Her father owned a hotel in Margate, but when the business failed, the family suffered financially (“Tracey Emin Biography”). It was also said that her father had two families that he split his time between and fathered around 11 children (Barber). She had some troubled times during her adolescence including being raped at the age of 13. After her disturbing and confusing childhood and adolescence, Emin wanted to study fashion edway College of Design in 1980. After working for several years as an administrator for Hangman Books, which specialized in children’s poetry, Emin decided to persue a career in art. She graduated from Madistone College of Art in 1986 and moved to London. She then went to the Royal College of Art and earned a Master of Arts degree in painting in 1986 (“Tracey Emin Biography”). In 1994, Emin had her first solo show, "My Major Retrospective," at the White Cube art gallery in London. The autobiographical exhibit consisted of photographs, pictures of earlier paintings and other personal objects, including a pack of cigarettes an uncle was holding when he was killed in a car crash. This public display of Emin's intimate life details soon became a trademark of her work (“Tracey Emin Biography”). Tracey Emin also uses her controversial personal life as inspiration to create her artwork. She mainly creates drawings, paintings, and sculptures. As an example of her work about her personal life is “My Bed”. This piece was her own bed in a lived in state that followed a period of depression due to a failed relationship (“Tracey Emin Biography”). She also has several drawings depicting trauma from the after effects of abortions. Emin also frequently works with fabric in the form of cutting it out into lettering and sewing it onto other material. She collects fabric from curtains, bed sheets and linen