Painting & Printmaking
What is your background? Do you have a degree or are you self-taught?
Graduated with a BFA in 2017!
How did your life as an artist first begin?
I became really invested in painting in 2013 during my freshman year of college and I hadn’t had a lot of training beforehand, so my work started naive and cautious. Far different from how it is now!
What does your art aim to say to your audience?
I’d like to think that the reason we have art in the first place is to say and discuss things that we can’t say and discuss in any other medium. There’s elements to my work that I experience and can’t translate back to an audience – the shapes and colours, even the viscosity of the paint, is a visual language that I can’t see separating from the meaning of the work. All that to say, I do think it’s important to still let the work be approachable, and in effort to do that I’d say my work is primarily about place, grief, and the tethers between what is concrete and what I feel.
Who has been your biggest influence?
I’ve spent a lot of time with the writings and works of Kandinsky, DeKooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Kahlil Gibran, and practically all contemporary women artists.
How has your practice changed over time?
My practice has changed drastically from my graduation in 2017. I have a local studio that provides an insane amount of support to my work and with a growing confidence and understanding of myself, my work is far less timid than it had been in the past. In a lot of ways it has grown with me. It has always been trying to say the same things – but for the first time I feel like I am fully in sync with my medium and thus can make everything clearer. I think my desire to continue to build my interior life and grow as a person has a lot to do with the way my work changes – I am always pursuing and engaging in the act of being better and learning more.
What is your favorite time period of art?
I’m a big fan of early renaissance work and the abstract expressionist movement of the 50’s and 60’s in New York.
Do you have a favorite work of art?
I love the Annunciation by Fra Angelico in the convent of San Marco in Florence.
Favorite Color!
I’ve been really into this yellow/green chartreuse color. Like new moss after it’s rained.
Any tips for young and upcoming artists in navigating the art world, especially locally?
Always pack snacks. Remember to get out of your head often enough. Make a lot of work and pursue genuine community and critique about it!
How can we see more of your work?
I share a lot of process work on Instagram (emiilyed) and Facebook. And I do have a website! (emilykd.com) I had a sweet lil local solo show in the works before the pandemic so we’ll see where things go when the world is less chaotic!
What is a fun fact about your self!
I have two cats; Margot Tenenbaum and Smooth.
Related Art Projects for Kids!
We would love to see the work of all the young artists out there! Share your work with us by sending a message to us on Facebook. Any work we receive will be shared on Friday.
Emily says “When I don’t have the resources to paint (or the time to clean up the mess) I do a lot of colored paper/magazine collages just to keep myself working! Think Hannah Hoch/Charley Harper – just building and drawing things with shapes instead of lines.”
Hannah Hoch inspired Animal Collage