Emily Malcolm

Ngāti Pūkenga

Emily Malcolm has been creating things for as long as she can remember — from mud pies to paint‑splattered experiments to pieces of wood hammered together in childhood curiosity. Creativity has always been her way of making sense of the world. Living in Bolivia as a teenager and Angola as a young adult opened her eyes to new cultures, colours, and rhythms, and to the resilience of communities facing daily hardship. It shaped her understanding of art as something deeply human and deeply healing.

Now based in Aotearoa New Zealand, Emily works in mental health, supporting people as they process trauma and reconnect with their own stories. Her artistic practice is woven through this work, where imagination, emotion, and material often speak in ways words cannot.

In recent years, clay has become a grounding medium for Emily — a way of rebuilding her sense of self and rediscovering where she stands in the world after a significant change in her circumstances. Working with clay connects her directly to Papatūānuku, offering a tactile place to return to her body and intuition.