Illinois College Contemporary Art Gallery

Jalen A.: What inspired you to become an artist, or what inspired you to create?

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Emma-Leone Palmer: I believe it’s just something that you’re born with. I was always creating. It was never a decision, art was just something that I am I suppose.

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JA: What is your favorite medium to work with and why? Have you ever worked with any other mediums?

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EP: I’ve worked with all sorts of mediums, but oil paint is where it’s at for me. Not to say that my medium won’t change in the future, but I definitely have an affinity with oil painting. It is quite lovely.

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JA: Is there a specific statement you are trying to convey through your art, or do you focus more on your subject’s expressions? I know you often paint people’s portraits with medium, such as paint dripping down their faces.

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EP: There isn’t a statement. I simply want to paint people’s expressions and the emotions that they have to the medium dripping down their faces. Each person has a different reaction and a different sort of essence. It’s really about having a connection to the medium that the person is using, as well as a connection to myself and what I see in that person.

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JA: What is your favorite piece that you have created? Is there a certain piece that has really resonated with you?

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EP: I think I will always go back to a portrait I did called, ‘Defiance’ (right), which I painted for my father as a tribute to him because he died. It was sort of an exploration into putting my grief onto a canvas, in a way that was more about exploring pain and love, instead of shying away from it. It was done on a great big canvas and I was very determined while working on it. That piece will always be very close to my heart.

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JA: What is it about painting portraits that intrigues you?

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EP: It’s a form of connection. It’s a form in the way that everyone can relate to the different expressions that appear on people’s faces. It’s the first place that you look if you’re talking to somebody. You can kind of gage immediately what they are feeling and who they are, yet there’s many masks behind that as well. In a lot of my works, I try to get behind the masks and utilize that individual’s different masks as well. A portraiture is always a challenge to get right and that challenge is sort of fun.

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JA: How do you choose the subjects that you paint? Do people come to you and ask you to paint them (commissions), or do you choose who your muses are going to be?

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EP: Often times I do a lot of commissions, but sometimes I’ll just use a friend that might be interesting to me. Also, I’ll do a photoshoot and just use somebody who’s around. I might put something on Facebook and somebody will reply to me saying, “yes I’m available”, or I’ll have people email me who say that they are willing to model for me. Everybody’s got something different, and I don’t know how they are going to be, until they’re actually modeling for me. I’m very open to anyone.

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JA: I have always been drawn to paintings of people who look and seem as if they’re underwater, there is an elegance to them. That being said, what is it that draws you in about covering your muses in dripping paint and colors.

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EP: It started off with myself and I was doing a self-portrait. I was a bit lost and whenever I’m a bit lost, I do a self-portrait. I rigged up my camera in front of my mirror in the studio and just started squeezing my face around. Seeing the wrinkles coming in here, or the freckles there, really looking in a sort of pleasurable way such as putting makeup on. I was kind of really scrutinizing myself and because I was in the studio, there were paint tubes sitting around me. It felt natural to pick up this lovely medium, start playing with it, and use it within the exploration of my face. It was another level of painting myself, while literally painting myself. Was I covering myself up, or what was I doing? It was quite comical. I decided that I should use it as a prop for others as well. It was a way that I could shake up portraits of people more, instead of just painting a stagnant bust.

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JA: Do you choose the color paint that you use for your muses based off what is going to suit them best, or do you let them choose for themselves?

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EP: Often, I let them choose, or I sometimes go from a tangent if I really like a particular color. I’ve been really into purple at the moment. I did two commissions using the purple paint and I’ve been exploring with it in other ways as well. 

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JA: I’ve noticed that in many of your works your muses have a specific hand placement on their faces, does this represent anything?

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EP: When I’m doing a photoshoot, I don’t have a set idea about what is going to come out of it. It’s basically that I rely on somebody to explore in that time frame. I’ll take hundreds of photos and then I’ll choose a handful of images that resonate with me. From the photographic point of view I will comment and say things like, “that really works, put your hand up there again, flick your hair again,” things like that. Often, I find that by using the hand there’s that other level of touch. People will often place their hand in the medium that is on them and smear it around or wipe it away. This adds another level of interaction, or animation to the way I paint them. It doesn’t always happen, but I do like painting a hand as well. They’re very expressive.

 

JA: Do you prefer to paint women as opposed to men, and if so, why?

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EP: I used to paint a lot of old guys. I was really into painting old men, obviously I was just going through a phase. But at the moment there’s been a lot of women, and I am a woman, so it seems natural to paint other women. You put so much of yourself into something that you can be painting someone else, but be painting yourself to some degree as well. There’s that natural feeling of affinity I suppose.