Emily Weaver is a multimedia visual artist working in sculpture, textiles and video art. She graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in 2021 with a degree in Fine Art and is currently based in Aberdeen.
Her practice takes inspiration from ancient traditions and folklore with a particular interest in depictions of the human face within artefacts.
Ultraviolet Dreams considers the mythological prominence of the bee and related associations with spontaneous generation. Inspired by the ancient Greek and Roman belief that bees were messengers for the gods, Weaver imagines the bee as an omnipresent creature watching and influencing the lives of the characters within her film. The film depicts beekeepers, ethereal beings and beasts of great prowess.
Tales of bees and spontaneous generation often result in the demise of a powerful animal, which becomes host to a bee colony. This is represented by the Bugonia Ox and Samson’s lion, both animals traditionally emblematic of archetypal power demonstrated through physicality. Power takes a new form as seen through the transition from life to death to rebirth. This theme of change highlights an evolution in cultural understandings of strength.
The film work is accompanied by three beehive sculptures inspired by German sculptured beehives. Golden wax drips from their mouths emulating the method of wax chewing bees use to build their hives.
