Artist Spotlight: Emily Keating Snyder
Emily Keating Snyderis a relatively new artist here at the gallery, but it is about time for a proper introduction. This brilliant artist is based out of California and is known for her beautiful color combinations and toeing the line between sharp, precise shapes and organic, soft edges. Get to know her a little better through this little Q + A!
What are three things you cannot go a day without?
1. Laughter. My alternate dream job was to be a comedy writer. I truly don’t understand how people without a sense of humor make it through the day.
2. Chocolate. I even put it in my breakfast most days and I recently discovered that you can buy countertop machines to make it at home so I’m scheming to start my own personal chocolate factory and maybe make artwork for the labels.
3. Many hours of sleep. One of my best friends once called me “the sleepiest person I’ve ever met.”
When did you first consider yourself an artist?
Even though I wasn’t that confident at the time, I somehow had the foresight early on to realize if I wanted other people to take me seriously as an artist I had to own that title. So I would say right out of college, when I was dog walking and nannying and making art in between, I called myself an artist first and foremost.
When did you start creating?
Probably the moment I could. Some of my earliest memories are of crafting gifts for family members and decorating DIY cardboard houses for my Barbies. I started painting on canvas around age 10 or 11, built theater sets in high school and studied photography and other mediums in college. I actually began incorporating embroidery into collage and photography work I was creating right out of school and the embroidery element has evolved from there.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Color, always color. It’s just such a huge part of our lives whether we consciously notice it or not. Even people who don’t think of themselves as caring much about art or design are aware of a feeling they get in different spaces and often color has something to do with it.
I especially love exploring unexpected colors in nature. We think of natural colors as blues, browns, greens, often subdued, but it’s so fun to see hot pink and purple flowers or even fluorescent fish.
I’m also inspired by the idea of creating an experience. I’ve always intuitively felt that I wanted to do that with my art, but I was really able to think of it this way when I started exploring eastern philosophies and Zen. It’s become a big part of my thought process that I really want to make art that isn’t a depiction of something else outside of it, but that it is the thing itself. The embroidery really helps with that because it’s not paint that’s creating lines or shapes in my work, it’s thread which is a three-dimensional object itself. Same with the raw canvas, which is a physical part of the piece rather than just a background.
What advice would you give yourself as a young artist?
As hard as it is, really try to make what you want and always ask yourself if what you’re making is for you or if you’re trying to please an imaginary viewer in your head (p.s. this is advice I give my current self too!).
It can be tempting to think what do people want, what is popular right now, but not only will you be a happier artist if you drown out that noise, but your art practice is so much more sustainable when it’s not relying on the style of the week. I don’t have to worry if certain trends will die out, I just know that if I keep following hits of inspiration that come from within I will never run out of ideas and I’m not competing with anyone else.
Emily's work is so striking. We are so happy to represent her here at the gallery. Click hereto see more examples of her work and to view her available pieces.
