What Is Tracey Emin Known For
In the bold and uncompromising world of contemporary art, few figures have ignited as much controversy, admiration, and emotional resonance as Tracey Emin. Fierce, honest, and profoundly autobiographical, Emin’s art is as much a diary as it is an aesthetic expression, often exposing the most vulnerable corners of her life and psyche. As one of the most prominent members of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who shook up the art scene in the 1990s, Tracey Emin has carved out a place that is both deeply personal and widely influential.
But what is it about Emin that makes her so compelling? How does she create her art, what materials does she use, and how much does her work cost today? In this in-depth profile, we explore the life and work of Tracey Emin: her artistic journey, the value of her pieces, her unmistakable style, and why she remains one of the most important artists of her generation.
The Rise of a Raw Voice
Born in Croydon, England, in 1963, Tracey Emin grew up in the seaside town of Margate, a place that would later serve as both sanctuary and haunting backdrop in her artwork. Her early life was marked by trauma, hardship, and emotional upheaval, experiences she would later channel directly into her creative expression.
After attending Maidstone College of Art and later Royal College of Art, Emin initially struggled to find her artistic voice. It wasn’t until the early 1990s, when she became associated with the provocative YBA movement, that she fully emerged as a daring and authentic voice in British art. Her connection to Charles Saatchi, the art collector who championed many of the YBAs, helped bring her into the spotlight.
Tracey Emin is perhaps best known for her confessional, autobiographical approach to art. She gained international fame with pieces that pulled no punches, often dealing with themes of sexuality, abuse, loss, love, abortion, depression, and self-reflection. Two of her most famous and controversial works are:
1. “Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995” (1995)
This tent installation, embroidered with the names of everyone Emin had ever shared a bed with, not just sexually, became an instant lightning rod. It was provocative, raw, and painfully human.
2. “My Bed” (1998)
Nominated for the Turner Prize, “My Bed” showcased the unmade bed Emin lay in during a depressive episode, surrounded by dirty underwear, empty vodka bottles, cigarette butts, and other remnants of emotional collapse. Critics were divided, but audiences were captivated by the honesty and vulnerability on display.
Emin didn’t just push boundaries, she obliterated them, creating a space in contemporary art where emotion, confession, and self-exposure were not just accepted but celebrated.
How Does Tracey Emin Make Her Artwork?
Emin is a multidisciplinary artist, working across a wide array of media. Her approach to art is intuitive and emotionally driven rather than methodical. She often allows her personal experiences to dictate the form and material the artwork will take. This means that her process can vary significantly from one project to another.
Autobiographical Writing
Many of Emin’s artworks begin as handwritten letters, diary entries, or confessional prose. Her writings, which can be tender, brutal, or poetic, are often the foundation of her larger works. These are sometimes turned into neon sculptures, embroidered fabrics, or monoprints.
Drawing and Painting
Emin often draws and paints using fluid, expressive lines that reflect a strong emotional current. Her figures, usually female and nude, are raw and gestural rather than technically polished, emphasizing feeling over form.
Textile and Embroidery
Her use of textiles is deeply tied to notions of femininity, domesticity, and labor. Sewing is not only a literal medium for Emin but also a metaphor for healing, memory, and connection.
Neon Lights
Perhaps one of her most commercially successful and visually iconic modes of expression is her use of neon signage. These works feature handwritten phrases in cursive, romantic, heartbreaking, or blunt statements that glow with emotional and physical intensity.
Sculpture and Installations
From bronze sculptures to entire room-sized installations, Emin’s three-dimensional works often deal with presence, absence, and the passage of time. Her recent sculptures have explored themes of love, mourning, and legacy, often influenced by her recent battle with cancer.
What Materials Does Tracey Emin Use?
Emin’s materials are as eclectic as her emotions. She has worked with:
Fabric: Blankets, tents, sheets, used for sewn text and autobiographical embroidery.
Neon tubing: Handwritten confessional text, transformed into glowing statements.
Paint: Particularly gouache and acrylics in her expressive figurative works.
Bronze and Stone: Used in her recent sculpture work, often cast from hand-modeled forms.
Found Objects: Dirty underwear, personal mementos, old letters, everyday materials with emotional resonance.
Video and Photography: Especially in early works where Emin directly addressed the camera or recorded performances.
This eclectic range of media allows her to shift between softness and hardness, vulnerability and permanence, chaos and control.
What Art Style Is Tracey Emin Associated With?
Emin is broadly associated with:
1. Conceptual Art
Much of her work prioritizes ideas and emotion over aesthetics, aligning her with conceptual traditions. The subject, her personal life, is often more important than the object itself.
2. Expressionism
Her gestural painting and drawing style echo expressionist techniques, especially in her focus on emotion, distortion, and immediacy.
3. Feminist Art
Emin’s candid depiction of female experiences, menstruation, rape, abortion, love, heartbreak, is undeniably feminist, placing the personal in the political.
4. Young British Artists (YBAs)
Her rise came within the YBA movement of the 1990s alongside Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, and others. The YBAs were known for shock value, innovation, and a disregard for traditional academic training.
How Famous Is Tracey Emin?
Today, Tracey Emin is a household name in the art world and beyond. She has achieved a level of cultural ubiquity that few contemporary artists can match. Her fame includes:
A nomination for the Turner Prize (1999).
Solo exhibitions at major institutions including the Royal Academy of Arts, Tate, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
Representing Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2007.
Being elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 2011.
Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2013.
Emin’s works are in the collections of top global museums and coveted by elite private collectors. Her story and voice have also made her a frequent subject in documentaries, interviews, and academic study. She has truly become one of Britain’s most recognizable and influential living artists.
How Much Does Tracey Emin’s Art Cost?
The cost of Tracey Emin’s artwork varies widely depending on the medium, size, and rarity. Some approximate ranges (as of 2025) include:
Neon Works
Prices range from £30,000 to £250,000+.
Shorter phrases and smaller neons are more affordable.
Larger neon installations or limited editions have commanded six-figure prices.
Drawings and Prints
Small monoprints can go for £5,000–£15,000.
Unique figurative works may fetch £20,000–£50,000+ depending on size and content.
Paintings
Her large-scale expressive paintings often sell for £100,000–£500,000+ at auction.
Installations and Iconic Works
Historical pieces like “My Bed” were sold to major institutions; “My Bed” was acquired by Tate for £2.5 million in 2014.
Other major works may fetch prices of £1 million or more.
Sculpture
Recent bronze pieces have been estimated between £80,000 to £600,000 depending on size and edition.
Emin’s name adds intrinsic value to her pieces. Collectors are not just buying art, they’re buying a cultural narrative, a voice, a life story encapsulated in object form.
How Many Artworks Does Tracey Emin Have?
The exact number of Emin’s artworks is difficult to pin down due to the vast and varied nature of her practice. Estimates suggest:
Thousands of individual works including:
Over 500 unique drawings and hundreds of prints.
Numerous neon sculptures (more than 100).
Several major installations and room-scale works.
Over 100 bronze sculptures in recent years.
Dozens of video and text-based works.
Her output continues to grow, especially as she’s moved into new phases of life and practice, particularly following her cancer diagnosis and recovery in 2020, which gave her art a new spiritual and existential urgency.
The Evolution of an Artist
In recent years, Emin’s work has undergone a transformation. While still rooted in her emotional core, her recent pieces explore mortality, memory, and the metaphysical. The trauma and intensity are still present, but there’s also a sense of reflection, legacy, and quiet power.
After surviving cancer, Emin moved back to Margate, where she established a new studio and a foundation to support young artists. Her later work has incorporated more sculptural forms, classical references, and emotional depth without sacrificing honesty.
She has described this phase of her life as “living with death and making peace with life.” The raw edge remains, but it’s tempered with wisdom.
Why Tracey Emin Matters
Tracey Emin matters not just because of what she creates, but how she lives through her art. She gave permission for emotions, especially messy, uncomfortable ones, to exist on gallery walls. She turned vulnerability into power. She made a career out of honesty and redefined what it meant to be a woman in the art world.
Whether she’s stitching pain into a blanket, sketching a figure in anguish, or lighting up a gallery with neon heartbreak, Emin forces her audience to feel, and in a world often desensitized to pain and beauty, that may be the most radical thing an artist can do.
In Tracey Emin’s own words:
“There should be something revelatory about art. It should be totally honest, and it should open people’s hearts and minds.”
And for over three decades, that’s exactly what she has done.
