Emily Hought is a multimedia and performance artist whose practice centres on the creation of solitary live characters that act as performative guises to navigate ritual, play, and social awkwardness. Beginning with abstract collages, she crafts masks, costumes, puppets, and dolls from papier-mâché, textiles, and cardboard, drawing inspiration from cubist portraiture, historical fashions, and traditions of masquerade. 

Her handmade props and masks carry a sense of childlike nostalgia, inviting play and spontaneity into her creative process. By embodying these characters, Emily explores the absurd complexities of self-presentation and visibility, reflecting on how the desire to be seen shifts from childhood through adulthood. 

Emily’s live performances often embrace discomfort, inspired by the Theatre of the Absurd. Through silence, awkwardness, and humour, she uses performance as a means to confront personal anxieties while reframing them as sites of transformation. 

Her practice is rooted in the belief that play and absurdity can open space for reflection, self-invention, and new ways of understanding everyday life.