Emily Ridings

About

Emily Ridings is a Lexington, Kentucky artist and designer who reinterprets the ancestral art of basketry through a modern, intuitive lens. A Kentucky native raised in Richmond, Emily grew up with baskets everywhere around her — her grandmother Judy Ridings is a master weaver who first introduced her to the craft. After earning a BFA in Fashion Design from Pratt Institute in New York, Emily returned south and devoted herself fully to weaving.

Her work spans sculptural and functional forms: baskets, vases, woven bracelets and cuffs, reed hats, and cane purses, all made by hand from reed and wood using found and surplus materials in a zero-waste practice. The process is led by intuition and play, with each piece carrying a narrative that fuses past with present. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Garden & Gun, WWD, and the National Basketry Organization’s magazine, and she created a woven bodice for designer Aurora James’s 2019 Met Gala look.

Emily Ridings’ work is available through her website at emilyridings.com and at Lexington-area craft markets.

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