Emma O'Brien is a  lens based artist from Westmeath in Ireland, her practice is concerned with themes of Mothering, family, childhood and home.  Her work recognises and amplifies the notion that a mothers lived experience is a valid area of artistic enquiry. Her current project the Holding Place is a meditation on the political and personal experience of motherhood.  She is influenced by matrecentric feminism, a theory that recognises mothers as a distinct category, oppressed as women and as mothers. Through her work calls for a recognition of the need for a feminism for mothers. She has a degree in Photographic Media from Griffith College, Dublin.

Recent achievements include publication of her current project as a TLP edition by PhotoIreland, Selected as an emerging talent in Europe by FreshEyes and GUP magazine,  this includes publication in the book FreshEyes 2020 and exhibition in Rotterdam. Exhibition in Group show at Format International Photography Festival, Derby UK 2020 and Selected for upcoming publication MassisolationIRL, by  the Gallery of Photography, Dublin. The Holding Place Project will be published in Over Journal, Issue 3 (2022). Emma is a Recipient of The Professional Development Award 2020, Arts Council of Ireland and The Agility Award 2021, by the Arts Council of Ireland.