Tracey Emin: Pain & Love
Tracey Emin’s work is celebrated for its raw intimacy of human emotion, intertwining love and pain in an unfiltered expression of personal experience. Through neon lights based on her hand-written confessions, fragile drawings, and tactile textiles, Emin reveals a narrative of longing, desire, and vulnerability.
Known for celebrating the darker aspects of intimacy, she addresses themes of trauma, illness, and loneliness alongside moments of passion and tenderness. Her iconic drawing style is rooted in personal memory, and transforms emotions into reflections, inviting viewers to confront their own experiences of love and suffering.
Explore our collection of works by the iconic British artist below:
It Was All About Loving You
Produced in 2022, in response to the escalation of conflict in Ukraine, ‘It Was All About Loving You’ by Tracey Emin is depicted through a series of swift lines with a figure reclining alone in a state of longing and desire, caught between despair and ecstasy.
Emin's prints, like many of her other works, have a diary quality and frequently allude to past events. Printed by Counter Editions, this screenprint exemplifies the artist's direct approach, which is profoundly intimate and universally relatable.
The funds raised by the release of the edition have been given to the charity, Hope and Homes for Children which works with Ukrainian authorities to ensure institutionalised child evacuees are monitored, tracked, recorded, and cared for in a safe environment. In the southwestern border nations of Moldova and Romania, the charity is helping to replenish resources at emergency relief, registration and reception centres, and ensuring the safe evacuation of children, their carers and their families.
Details:
Tracey Emin
’It Was All About Loving You’ 2022
Screenprint on Somerset 400gsm
80 x 120.5 cm
Signed, numbered, dated and titled by the artist
Edition of 50
Sold framed
On My Knees
Created in 2021 in collaboration with Counter Editions and released on Tate Modern’s 21st anniversary in 2021, ‘On My Knees’ by Tracey Emin features one of the artists most iconic subjects - the bed. The print shows a female nude figure kneeled, with her head bowed. A hesitant outline of another figure appears to be laying before her with the bed providing a shared space of private intimacy.
The intimate diaristic print was created by Emin in her Margate studio following her recovery from cancer. The print shows the loneliness that can come with battling the disease and longing for someone beside her. Throughout her battle with cancer, Emin continued to make art and used her work to process her experiences.
Tracey Emin signing ‘On My Knees’
Image credit: Counter Editions
Details:
Tracey Emin
’On My Knees’ 2021
4-colour lithograph on Somerset Velvet Warm White 400gsm
60 x 76 cm
Signed, numbered, dated and titled by the artist
Edition of 100
Free shipping to the UK
Curled Up
Created in 2022 in collaboration with Counter Editions and Greenpeace, ‘Curled Up’ by Tracey Emin is an intimate autobiography of her recovery from cancer treatment following her diagnosis in 2020. The subject, depicted on a hospital bed, conveys the artist’s frustration and pain, forcing her to curl up in discomfort.
Details:
Tracey Emin
’Curled Up’ 2022
2-colour lithograph on Somerset Velvet Warm White 400gsm
60 x 76 cm
Signed, numbered, dated and titled by the artist
Edition of 100
Free shipping to the UK
Just Waiting
Created in 2022 in collaboration with Counter Editions, ‘Just Waiting’ by Tracey Emin is an intimate autobiography of her recovery from cancer treatment following her diagnosis in 2020. The subject, depicted in a coffin, conveys the artist’s frustration and pain, longing for the freedom of everyday life with her face obscured by shades of blue.
Details:
Tracey Emin
’Just Waiting’ 2022
3-colour lithograph on Somerset 400gsm
65 x 84 cm
Signed, numbered, dated and titled by the artist
Edition of 50
All works featured are now available to purchase from Extraordinary Objects Gallery. For more details on any works, please feel free to contact us. To explore our collection of rare prints, collectables and natural history, visit our New Acquisitions page.