The Hutchinson Art Center is excited to highlight local artist, Emily Kohls, during December’s Third Thursday! This exhibit is on display December 17th - January 9th, 2021. We hope you will swing by and check it out!
For those who choose to visit us digitally, images from this exhibit are coming to our website soon!
Artist Statement:
“Why isn’t there any Feminist Pop Art?” I asked myself and then I thought, “Well, if there isn’t, I will create it!” To produce the kind of artwork I envision myself making, I create representational figurative paintings that focus on women’s issues, including empowerment, gender roles, and beauty standards. I also explore other social issues, such as gun violence and media creation and consumption in the digital age. I have a wide range of artistic influences that formal elements of collage, illustration, and design, the symbolism of Fantastic Realism, and the color and imagery from Pop Art. Outside of art, I am influenced by my love of history, pop culture, feminism, and rock/alternative music. Song lyrics, often from female and female fronted musicians and groups, are the inspiration and starting point for much of my work. Once I have a few ideas I’m interested in, I pull images from magazines, advertisements, movies, art history, and music videos to create small collages that expressed these ideas. These collages act as my preliminary sketches for my final work. I tie this all together by using a variety of mediums, from the traditional: acrylics, watercolor, and ink, to the non-traditional: ribbon, cloth, and glitter, to create the final piece. With my paintings I want to create interesting, collage-like work that is aesthetically interesting, provokes thought, and portrays feminist concepts, along with other social issues, through a pop cultural lens. -Emily Kohls
Artist Bio:
Emily Kohls was born in 1997 in Liberal, Kansas. However, she considers Hutchinson, Kansas her home since 2006. She graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Fort Hays State University in 2020 and previously graduated with an Associate of Art from Hutchinson Community College. She is an introspective and empathic individual in tune with her emotions. She takes an interest in reading, history, and consuming popular media. Due to her father being an English teacher, she was encouraged to think and find the deeper meaning in her interests and the world around her. She is often attracted to color, various religious and pop cultural iconography, nature, and the human body and mind. As a teenager she gained interest in feminism, which made her evaluate her and others’ place in society as women. It was through her experiences and interests that she came to create figurative and often symbolic paintings and drawings using acrylic, watercolor, colored pencil, and ink. She also dabbles in digital art and mixed media collage.