Emily Young

Emily Young (b. 1951) is a British sculptor whose contemplative stone carvings offer a meditation on geological time, environmental memory and the spiritual dimensions of material form. Often referred to as Britain’s foremost living stone sculptor, Young has developed a singular practice that combines classical figuration with the raw, elemental presence of unworked stone, creating works that seem suspended between antiquity and the present.

Born into a family of explorers, writers and artists — her grandmother was the sculptor Kathleen Scott, a student of Rodin — Young studied at Chelsea School of Art and Central Saint Martins before turning to sculpture in the early 1980s. A period of extensive travel through Europe, Africa and the Middle East shaped her understanding of landscape and deepened her engagement with stone as both material and metaphor.

Her work is characterised by carved heads and torsos, rendered in materials such as marble, onyx, lapis lazuli and alabaster. These forms, often emerging from the untouched surface of ancient rock, express a quiet intensity. Rather than imposing form upon matter, Young works in dialogue with each stone’s geological history, respecting its fractures, veining and density. The resulting sculptures carry a sense of timelessness, inviting reflection on the frailty and endurance of human presence within the wider arc of natural history.

Young’s work is held in major public and ecclesiastical collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, St Paul’s Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. Her recent practice has embraced environmental themes, including underwater installations linked to ocean conservation.