Emily Kraus was born in the United States and is based in London. She received her BA in Religious Studies at Kenyon College in 2017, and MA in Painting at Royal College of Art in 2022. Kraus has invented a hand-powered machine to produce paintings using oil on canvas. The artist's machines work by wrapping a loop of stitched canvas four metal poles on bearings on a metal frame. Her work has been exhibited internationally by Indigo+Madder Gallery, Guts Gallery, and The Stable Gallery in Switzerland, amongst others. Kraus' work is held in the collections of the Royal College of Art and the Simon Nixon Foundation. This year, Kraus won the Hopper Prize (2023).