emma.crombe

Bio:

Emma Crombé (b. 2000, Belgium) is a Belgian-based artist. She obtained her master's in Fine Arts, Painting at the KASK - School of Arts in Ghent, where she is currently enrolled in the postgraduate Curatorial Studies.

Her work has been shown at various galleries. Next to her artistic practice, she works on collaborative and curatorial projects.

Artist Statement:

Emma Crombé (b. 2000, Belgium) constructs a contemporary mythology populated by fleshy, amorphic giants. Her practice is a radical act of remixing: she gathers derogatory depictions of women and weaves them together with contemporary queer and feminist narratives. Informed by the body-obsessed fetishism associated with Catholic relics and the grease and grime of local carnival traditions, she kneads, cuts, and glues torments into treasures. Through repetition and a DIY aesthetic, Crombé reclaims the visual language of the past, erecting a camp, alternative idolatry cultus of transgressive female aspirations.

Emma Crombé (b. 2000, Belgium) constructs a contemporary mythology populated by fleshy, amorphic giants. Her practice is a radical act of remixing: she gathers derogatory depictions of women and weaves them together with contemporary queer and feminist narratives. Through repetition and a DIY aesthetic, Crombé reclaims the visual language of the past, erecting a camp, alternative idolatry cultus of transgressive female aspirations.

Her storytelling is informed by the torments and treasures of Catholic iconography. She explores the paradoxical positioning of women within Christian mythmaking—oscillating between the traditional, caring mother and the seductive, queer other. Crombé is particularly drawn to the obsession with body parts at the core of the reliccultus, specific to Catholicism.

This interest in the visceral extends to her visual language, which doesn’t shy away from grease and grime. This is most evident in her series ‘Filth and Guilt’, centered on the Carnival of Aalst. Here, she collects, cuts, and glues dirtied paper and found objects with garbage and craft supplies. By manipulating these so-called low art materials, she addresses and dismantles the harm of hateful imagery through a process of transformation, inspired by that of carnival itself.

Crombé’s choice of materials is a deliberate challenge to the material hierarchies of fine art. Using papier-mâché, textiles, collage, and industrial paints alongside classical oils, she embraces materials often dismissed as ‘merely’ domestic craft and associated with class accessibility. She works against the stubborn, traditional readings of these media.

A queer sensibility permeates her work, touching on themes of trauma and anxiety as much as wonder and power. Her works are characterized by busy, all-over compositions, an overload of materials, clashing patterns, and an implied violence.
Inspired by artists such as Sarah Lucas, Cindy Sherman, and Mike Kelley, Crombé embraces a DIY and digital aesthetic. She invites the viewer into an apocalyptic world of amorphic giants and female aspirations.

Currently, Crombé parallels her research on doll cultures with her work on the concept of the relic. Dolls are filled with projections and teachings of a given society. Similarly, she examines the Catholic obsession with the relic—the commercialized, bodily remains of saints, serving a distinct role in deceitful myth-making.

In short, Emma Crombé takes mythmaking into her own hands, reclaiming the visual language of the past to erect a cultus of queer-feminist expression, creating an alternative, self-aware idolatry with camp qualities.

Hay Ropa Tendida: Invisible labours for nosy neighbours / CAMPO / Ghent / 2026
Happy New Queer / Antwerp Queer Arts Festival / Stadsschouwburg / Bruges / 2026
Drama Queens / (Kunst in Huis) Arenberg / Antwerp / 2025
Jesters and Their Joshing Choices / BROEI / Ghent / 2025
Blikkenwerpers / BROEI / Ghent / 2025
Mirror Face / Galerie Ofwel Ofnie / Turnhout / 2025
Me-time / Forbidden City / Antwerp / 2025
KASK Master Graduation Show / Kiosk / Ghent / 2024
Filth & Guilt / (Cafe voor Schone Kunsten) Trefpunt / Ghent / 2024
Geluk zit in de Kleine Dingen / MAP / Ghent / 2024
Kinship Kingdom / De Zwarte Zaal / Ghent / 2023
Voor t’ zingen de kerk uit / Op de Vloer / Ghent / 2023
ENSEMBLE / (Curating the Young) De Loods in Chinastraat / Ghent / 2023
Go tell it to the mountains (with Museum Dr. Guislain) / Kadoc / Leuven / 2022
Pseudopodia / De Zwarte Zaal / Ghent / 2022
Triptiek / Ontsteking / Ghent / 2021

MDD Collective 2026
BROEI Residency 2025
CAMPO (Curatorial Residency) 2026
Part of artist duo DewitteCrombe since 2025

Curatorial Statement:

At the heart of Emma Crombé's (b. 2000, Belgium) curatorial ethos is a commitment to fostering an ecosystem of mutual support, designed to counter the thinning soil of the contemporary arts sector. Her projects often center on women/FLINTA artists. She bridges art and craft and works with artists in all stages of their careers, representing a wide range of lived experiences and approaches. Her interests include Marxist and feminist literature, contemporary art, folk art, and traditional crafts (doll making, textile work). She works with a wide range of artistic media, and especially appreciates hybrid practices. Currently, she is enrolled in Curatorial Studies at KASK School of Arts in Ghent and is part of MDD Collective.

Curatorial projects she was involved in (selection): ‘The Associations of Pauline Curnier Jardin’ (Assistant Curator-Production) ( 2025, M HKA), ‘Nothing New Under the Sun’ (2026, TICK TACK), ‘Fruitsalad Summer Residency’ ( 2025, De Verffabriek, Shif-t).