STATEMENT
Emily Blair Quinn’s realistic oil portraits depict glistening, ghostly, and fractured female figurines in enigmatic emotional states ranging from firey passion to silent panic. The scale of the painting corresponds with the figure’s emotional state. When she experiences empowerment, freedom, and ecstasy, she takes up space on a large canvas like a goddess or a monument. If she feels powerless, fearful, or sad, then she is confined to a small canvas. Painting is an act of meditation in which Quinn examines the complexity, mystery, and nuances of human emotion and permits people to express themselves without judgment.
Quinn's process begins with a treasure hunt for figurines that appear haunted, sad, pensive, sexual, or otherwise easy to anthropomorphize. To elucidate for the viewer what she sees in the figurines, she arranges them in theatrically lit scenes, at times transforming them through paint, wax, and resin, before photographing them and using them as the basis for her paintings. She uses bright colors and dark humor to engage viewers, making her work a catalyst for uncensored conversations about vulnerability, empathy, and connection.
Emily Blair Quinn’s realistic oil portraits depict glistening, ghostly, and fractured female figurines in enigmatic emotional states ranging from firey passion to silent panic. The scale of the painting corresponds with the figure’s emotional state. When she experiences empowerment, freedom, and ecstasy, she takes up space on a large canvas like a goddess or a monument. If she feels powerless, fearful, or sad, then she is confined to a small canvas. Painting is an act of meditation in which Quinn examines the complexity, mystery, and nuances of human emotion and permits people to express themselves without judgment.
Quinn's process begins with a treasure hunt for figurines that appear haunted, sad, pensive, sexual, or otherwise easy to anthropomorphize. To elucidate for the viewer what she sees in the figurines, she arranges them in theatrically lit scenes, at times transforming them through paint, wax, and resin, before photographing them and using them as the basis for her paintings. She uses bright colors and dark humor to engage viewers, making her work a catalyst for uncensored conversations about vulnerability, empathy, and connection.