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emmabelsham

@emmabelsham

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Painting etc.🪞
Cape Town
See also: @embelsh
[email protected] 💌

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The bow is in her hair, her bra, her bed. Carefully placed and culturally loaded, the bow becomes a tool for exploring the complexities of the feminine experience. Whether oversized and pink or gently tucked to the top of her braid, the bow undoubtedly evokes a distinct nostalgia for girlhood. However, when the exaggerated bow appears in pieces like Pillow Princess or Beautifully Handcuffed Bride, childhood affinities are traded in for emotions far more complex. These artists demonstrate how overtime the bow never really leaves us, but continues to engage in the feminine performance in all its girly-girl glory.

In my own girlhood, I rarely felt complete without a bow. When I tucked one into my curly blonde hair it felt like my very own personal crown. To wear a bow was to engage in a particularly feminine ritual of dress that I just had to be a part of. That idea of bow as crown stuck with me, not in the typical regal sense, but rather as a symbol of femininity that continued to grow alongside me. Is the bow the ultimate crown of girlhood?

Featuring work by Mack Brim, Emma Belsham, Claudia Koh, Dominika Kováčiková, Noelia Towers, Paree Rohera, Kelli Vance, Nicole Debono, and Irina Patrusheva.

#girlhood #contemporarypainting #coquette #art

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So close yet so far, so far yet so close — our second digital issue consists of conversations that took place with South African artists across borders, both national and global.

Across London, New York, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Burgersdorp, we speak with: Shakil Solanki, Lexi Hide, Paul Wallington, Emma Belsham, Guy Simpson, Ruby Barry, Jakinda Boya and Kamva Matuis.

Issue 02 goes live on September 30th 2026.

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detail of ‘sisters in pink flip flops’, Emma Belsham 💦

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Q1-Q3 26 #fine

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The group exhibition, ‘And then we’ll know’, is on view until this Wednesday, 2 September.

Titled after the closing line of Olga Tokarczuk’s ‘House of Day, House of Night’ - a passage uploaded to the artists and curator’s shared Are.na channel - the exhibition, much like the book that bears its name, draws from fragments that sometimes cohere and sometimes remain disparate.

‘And then we’ll know’ features work by Assya Agbere, Emma Belsham, Ylara Esau Salie, Hannah-Rose Fleishman, Okuhle Gubuza, Yolanda Li, and Ana-José Riley, and is curated by Ruby Barry.

𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲: Emma Belsham, ‘Cash on collection’ (2026) | Oil on linen, 32.5 x 34 cm (detail)

#blankprojects

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Cash on collection by @emmabelsham

#contemparyart #nycgallery

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@emmabelsham

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‘And then we’ll know’, a group exhibition of emerging practitioners, is currently on view at the gallery until 3 September.

Across film, painting, sculpture, and installation, the works enact a searching: a quest for belonging, offering ways of moving between what has been lost, what remains, and what might still become possible.

‘And then we’ll know’ features work by Assya Agbere, Emma Belsham, Ylara Esau Salie, Hannah-Rose Fleishman, Okuhle Gubuza, Yolanda Li, and Ana-José Riley, and is curated by Ruby Barry.

𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀: Installation view at blank projects, Cape Town

#blankprojects

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Little to no explanation. Just John Galliano runway looks paired with artworks that capture the same energy. 1. @emmabelsham
2. @annaweyant
3. @palaisdetatou
4. @meghannstephenson
5. @laurarbenson
6. @mepiaya
7. @lucaponsatoart
8. @lindaschmidtpaintings

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@emmabelsham

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@emmabelsham

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‘And then we’ll know’ at blank projects, Cape Town

The idea of nothing
grows skyward

home to the father you have lost
and have been looking for
Everywhere At The End of Time

Red Swan
with sealing words
what should I do?

Everyday forms of time travel:
Astrology and tarot, mirrors,
thought, language, dreams, music

Anything to report?
And then we’ll know.

Thank you to the artists. Curated by buby rarry.

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