
A Jersey artist has achieved one of the highest accolades in the art world.
Emily Allchurch was born in Jersey and attended Jersey College for Girls before completing her MA studies at the Royal College of Art in London.
She has achieved one of the highest accolades for an artist, with the complete set of her archival pigment prints from her ‘Tokyo Story’ series acquired by the British Museum for their permanent collection.
A member of the British Museum staff inspects one of Emily's prints
Emily now lives in Hastings, East Sussex, where she works in photography and digital media, and she exhibits regularly in solo and group shows in the UK, internationally and here in Jersey with Private & Public Gallery.
Emily told Channel 103 she is thrilled.
"I was so excited to receive the email from the curator saying that they want a complete set.
"As an artist, I've been working for over 20 years, and some works are just really important, and it's knowing that this series is going to be in the custodianship of an institution like the British Museum is just thrilling.
"I take all of my own photographs. for this series, I went to Tokyo and took the photographs to recreate Hiroshiga's views. What I'm wanting to do is look at the old master but then try and find a story to capture and reflect contemporary life - to update it."
She told us that she also adds watercolour elements that nod to the original techniques.
An archival print from the Tokyo Story series, after Hiroshiga
Dr Alfred Haft, Project Curator in the Japanese Section of the Department of Asia at the British Museum, says they are excited to have her work.
“The British Museum is thrilled to have acquired the complete series Tokyo Story by Emily.
"Each work inventively refers to a major print design from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo by Utagawa Hiroshige, one of Japan's leading landscape artists, while simultaneously offering a glimpse into daily life in modern Japan."
Her work will also be on display in the Public and Private Gallery in Jersey from 1st May.