Emma Elizabeth Downing
My Statement of WHY…
I create aural images as companions to visual symbols. I collect sounds from beloved environments and embed these sounds into a blanket for words to rest upon. If all goes well, when these words are sung they activate the symbols, which live again in the air. This is the magic of music. The visual images whom I paint and draw arise from the landscapes which I love to manipulate into existing upon a flat surface. This is the magic of art.
My statement of WHO…
I was born in a small town in Alabama and grew up working in the family business, The Heart of Dixie Motel. The Motel was set on a hill with miles of woods behind and HWY 280 in the front. The town lay in the valley below. The Tallapoosa River, just beyond this valley was damed in the 1920's to create electricity, flooding many small towns, creating a huge lake. This lake covers my ancestors homes and graves and many of my images rise from here.
I graduated from the small but fierce Art Department of Auburn University, then I moved to Baltimore to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art, with Grace Hartigan as my painting advisor. Here in Baltimore, I met many of the people influential in my development as a performance artist and musician. I live still in Baltimore with my wife, children and dog, making art and music with inspiring collaborators.