Until September 21st, Studio Wolffia, spearheaded by artist Emily Jackson, will present “In This Moment” at Noho Galleries in London. The exhibition promises a captivating journey into the world of pattern and perception, manifesting as a vibrant collection of abstract artworks, with a particular focus on innovative textile pieces.
Emily Jackson, the driving force behind Studio Wolffia, explores the innate human desire to make sense of the world. As philosopher Alfred North Whitehead noted, “Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience,” a maxim perfectly embodied by Studio Wolffia’s work. Jackson transforms mundane observations—from train seat fabric to the textures of everyday objects—into abstract paintings, textiles, and objects that playfully challenge and reimagine our perception. “All I’m seeing everywhere is pattern,” Jackson remarks, highlighting her profound connection to the visual rhythms of daily existence.
The studio’s name, Wolffia, takes inspiration from the world’s smallest flowering plant, symbolizing modest origins with impactful growth through repetition. This collaborative approach allows Jackson to transcend traditional mediums, looking beyond the canvas to embrace textiles, wood, ceramics, and wool. At its core, Studio Wolffia is driven by an emotional imperative: to spread joy and create art rooted in the philosophy of Eudaimonia—purposeful happiness.
“In This Moment” places a special emphasis on Studio Wolffia’s nuanced approach to textiles. Driven by a desire for “something deeper, more enveloping, more tactile and absorbing,” Jackson employs tufting, a technique where yarn is looped and cut with a gun-like machine. This method results in completely unique, sculptural objects that possess a distinct sense of vitality, expanding her practice into functional art forms like tufted cubes and stools.
The new body of work cohesively presents Studio Wolffia’s distinctive visual language, where shape and form are paramount. Abstract curves, lines, blobs, and cut-outs brim with energy, reflecting the artist’s internal and external emotional landscape. Jackson’s fearless yet balanced color palette—a bold fusion of pop spectrum hues from acid pinks to royal blues—is applied in fast, instinctive layers, underscoring the work’s spontaneous and playful nature.
Abstraction serves as the unifying methodology for Studio Wolffia, offering true freedom to represent both process and subject simultaneously. Jackson believes this allows for a direct connection, forming a mirror to the viewer’s inner self that is immediately engaging and delight-inducing. “It is a true reflection of that exact moment and open for anyone to interpret as they see fit,” she concludes, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in the present moment through her vibrant, tactile expressions. She speaks to 1883 about painting, abstraction and cracking a smile.
How did you first get into painting, and when did your practice begin? How has your work evolved from those early days?
Emily Jackson: I first got into painting to reclaim a piece of myself during early motherhood. With my two children very close in age—just one and a half and three at the time—painting became a form of personal reclamation. Those early days were all about pure experimentation. Now, after about five years of doing it full-time, my artistic journey and motherhood journey have evolved together, each enriching the other. I had previously been a makeup artist and studied art informally, so it’s always been in my life but not always in this form.
What inspired this body of work, and what ideas or emotions are you hoping to explore through it?
This is a true body of work that is cohesive through all the paintings and the textiles combined. The title In This Moment suggests and invites those who are viewing it to step into my current lived experience. Through my journaling that accompanies all my work, I have landed in this place of gratitude and reflection and to be present in the now.
You mentioned this show combines painting, textiles, and design objects. How did you arrive at bringing these different parts of your practice together in one presentation?
I have always had a strong pull to textiles, in both clothing and fabric. I love complexities and intricacies and I love variety side by side, which you can see through my entire history of work. The textiles have offered me and the viewer something deeper and for the senses, beyond painting. The tufting process means that any given fabric is still unique, a 1/1 collectible, and leaning into design gives it functionality too. It’s all just a moment to arrive at and it feels very comfortable in the studio bringing it all together.
Your stools blur the line between function and sculpture. How do you see the relationship between design and fine art in your practice?
I want to create an opportunity for someone to live with art in a different way. If the piece functions as a stool or a sculpture that invites interaction and practicality, it means the relationship is deeper and I am drawn to that. I still feel very focused on nothing being repeated out of the studio directly. To me then the line is blurred. It is both unique and functional. A collectible 1/1.
You’ve mentioned sculptural ridges / carved textures, and both simple and colorful palettes. How do these choices reflect what you’re exploring in this show?
The tufting and how I am finishing the pieces allows for something much deeper to be seen and felt. It allows for multiple finishes within one piece of fabric, and I love that.
Is there a story, theme, or central thread that ties these different works (stools, textiles, wall works) together?
I am constantly seeking balance in everything, no matter the medium, and the amazing thing about working with multiple mediums is the way they begin to influence each other and therefore impact your process as an artist. I’m informed about painting from tufting and visa versa. I personally wouldn’t ever want to just be working with one medium for life, I think there is a lot of growth in the challenge and problems that need solving. Seeing the language on the wall, on curved surfaces, on objects – it’s all speaking to each other.
What feels most personal or important to you about this exhibition? Are there specific memories, ideas, or experiences that shaped the pieces?
The pieces are named with my own experiences in mind. They’re all very personal and symbolic to my life. Alongside my work I journal daily, everything I am feeling and working on internally goes into there too. And the combination of those writings and the freedom to paint gives me the running narrative that I pick titles from.
How do you want people to experience the show – physically (moving through space, interacting with pieces) and emotionally (what they might feel or think)?
The mission is still joy, there is nothing heavy or challenging and again with the title In This Moment – its a reminder to us all that its all we have. Now. My studio sometimes feels like a joyful factory, I can go in and feel and be reckoning with all the human experiences, as a parent, a partner, part of a family, complexities of the sum of all my parts, and once I engage with the freedom and lack of obligation that abstract work gifts me, I can create a moment of joy for myself and hopefully others. That is what I always fundamentally want to do – uplift and energise.
How does this show relate to your broader practice and career as an artist? What role do you see this exhibition playing in your trajectory?
This would be the first time I am presenting what I would say is a true body of work that should be engaged with as one. I’ve previously shown works but more of a ‘showcase’ – I feel proud and really present in this body of work. This is me, right now, it’s how I feel, it’s what I am experiencing and it’s what I am aiming to give to the viewer.
If someone walked out of your show and told a friend about it, what would you hope they’d say?
Compared to my February presentation – Finding Bright Places, this time I want people to walk out and know me better. To feel more of myself in the work and feel my growth as an artist. I would hope the message carried forward would be a positive one that puts a spring in the steps of people who view the pieces and that they take some of that with them for their day. It’s about joy! My art is about that message and carrying it forward.
What is one piece of advice you’d share with an aspiring artist who is just beginning their journey?
My advice would be to just continue without fear. Something inside is telling you to do this so listen to that voice and be very patient. The slower you go the better it is long term. And be prepared to work really hard.
What’s next for Studio Wolffia? What are you most excited about, and where do you hope to grow in the next few years?
The ‘studio’ element of my name is to usher in my hopes for the future. Public art and large scale commissions push the notes of joy and escapism that I am constantly exploring in my work even further into the world, and into more meaningful places. I want to collaborate and work with others to deliver interesting projects that make people take notice and above all… smile.
IN THIS MOMENT BY EMILY JACKSON OF STUDIO WOLFFIA
Location: Noho Galleries, 67 Great Tichfield Street
Date: September 17 – 21 2025
