Graduating Student: Emily Warren (S 21)

My process paper was the most helpful piece of writing I’ve ever completed. I love experimenting with paint and then viewing the work through the lens of motion.

I work with reckless abandon and I love it.

Who, or what is your work in conversation with?

My work is in conversation with contemporary painters Karen Kilimnik and Forrest Bess because of the dreaminess they convey.

Lisa Yuskavage, the contemporary painter portraying body parts in brilliant colors.

The modernist painter, Hermann Rorschach, who used a game to open a conversation about pareidolia.

Photographer Francesca Woodman’s examination of suturing the body through images, and Carolee Schneemann for the same reason, using performance.

How did VCFA change your approach to thinking about your studio practice and your community at home?

I approach research with a different mindset. I follow footnotes. I find myself experimenting a lot more than ever in in my work.

I find inspiration from my community now instead of being shy about my southern roots.

Who were your Artist-Mentors?

I had the great pleasure to work with Vesna Pavlović, a brilliant thinking photographer and teacher.

Farrar Cusomato, the most talented painter I’ve ever known and a true inspiration.

Trinie Dalton, a knowledge ninja extraordinaire and compassionate truth slinger.

Lisa Crafts, creator of moving blurs between real and imagination, humor, horror, and loss.

Brilliant women – kind and supportive in their direction and critiques. I cannot imagine a better group of mentors.

What was on your play list during your time at VCFA?

My playlist, I prefer the silence.

I will put on a frequency to fall asleep – my favorite is 999Hz.

I have a Stratocaster and a Clavinova so I might burst into a tune to relax – or think about a visual problem.

Who are your favorite protagonists in fiction?

My favorite protagonists in fiction are:

Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)

Margaret Schlegel (Howard’s End by E. M. Forster)

Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What is your favorite bird?

This is a difficult question, the Carolina Wren. I love their song and they are scrappy little survivors.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird because they are the tiniest, fiercest, and loyal warriors in my backyard.

What, or who, should you like to be if not yourself?

If I could be anyone other than myself, I would be my cat, Sparkles, or a whale so I could swim around the globe singing.

Where do you live?

I live in a suburb of Nashville, TN, US. We have 2 kinds of music: country and western. Also, that guy, working at the gas station, plays better guitar than Clapton.