Emily McLatchie

My practice explores notes of the wilderness, through themes of connection and memento mori, emphasising an awareness of the cycles that bind us to the earth.

Rooted in the landscapes of Dumfries and Galloway, I engage with landscapes that hold memory and reflection in order to heal and process my inner world as well as the external.

I work primarily with raw, elemental materials—stones, bones, earth—gathered locally and used with minimal processing. This grounded, traditional approach allows me to explore the emotional weight these materials carry and how they can reflect personal and collective experiences of transformation.

Each work is made with care and slowness, honouring the rhythms of the land and the stories it holds.

Following the death of my mother, grief had stepped into my work. Through making, I began to understand grief not only as loss, but as a form of connection and transformation—a revival through the cycles of nature that hold space for both decay and renewal.

Through painting, photography, and soundscapes, I aim to create immersive, contemplative environments that invite viewers to pause, reflect, and reconnect with themselves through memory and place.

‘The Fox and the Earth’ is made from soil of Dumfries and Galloway and bone of a fox. It serves as a gentle meditation on loss and remembrance—a memento mori that honors the impermanence of life and reflects the painful forewarning of the endless cycle of our fleeting existence in the world.