"What sets my work apart is the physical methods I’ve developed and refined over the past 20 years. It involves a multi-step process that includes hand-cutting, bonding, drying, pressing, and laser cutting long before the composition stage even begins. This process is something I have built entirely through hands-on experimentation, and to my knowledge, no other artist is working in quite the same way. Another distinctive element of my practice is my extensive archive of over 40,000 vintage maps, which I’ve collected over many years. I treat these maps almost like a paintbox, mining fragments of colour from them as if they were swatches on a palette."
Amelia Coward is a British visual artist whose work explores the intricate interplay of colour, geometry, and spatial rhythm. With a background in woven textiles and formal training grounded in Josef Albers’ colour theory, her practice is driven by a fascination with the emotional and perceptual effects of colour interactions. Using a unique combination of hand-crafted processes and laser-cut techniques, Coward creates meticulously assembled compositions that blur the boundaries between painting, collage, and sculpture.
Her practice follows two distinct yet interconnected strands. One focuses on her signature ombré dot and stripe paintings—vivid, structured arrangements that echo the textile logic developed during her early career in design. The other centres around her vast personal archive of over 40,000 vintage maps. These maps are treated as palettes of found colour; Coward extracts fragments, bonds them to wood, and laser-cuts them into precise, circular forms. These are then composed into large-scale works that are both meditative and visually dynamic, often incorporating thousands of elements in carefully calibrated chromatic gradients.
Influenced by artists such as Anni Albers, Bridget Riley, Carlos Cruz-Diez, and David Whitaker, Coward’s work is firmly rooted in the principles of Kinetic and Op art. Her pieces invite active engagement, shifting in appearance depending on the viewer’s position and perception. This interest in visual movement and optical interplay is central to her practice, which transforms methodical repetition and mathematical precision into works that are immersive, harmonious, and quietly expressive.
Coward’s process is meticulous and labour-intensive, involving a multi-step approach that includes cutting, bonding, pressing, and laser-finishing before the final arrangement begins. Her intuitive sense of order and deep respect for material history—particularly evident in her map-based works—imbue each piece with a layered narrative and tactile presence.
Originally from a creative family and shaped by a visually focused way of thinking due to her dyslexia, Coward has always viewed making as a natural form of communication. Her studio practice is an act of finding calm through structure—assembling chaos into order, colour into clarity. As her work continues to evolve, she increasingly experiments with scale, texture, and intricate detail, pushing the boundaries of her medium while remaining anchored in the meditative logic of colour and form.
Her artworks are held in numerous private and corporate collections internationally, with notable public placements including the Sheraton Hotel in San Diego, the Almoosa Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia, and Terra Boutique restaurant in Brooklyn, New York. Approximately 75% of her work now resides in the United States, reflecting the growing international appeal of her distinctive visual language.
Amelia Coward’s work offers a contemplative yet vibrant encounter with colour, inviting viewers into a world where precision meets play, and where fragments of the past are reimagined into immersive, contemporary compositions.