Amze Emmons
Gallery Affiliations: Christina Ray Gallery, Works on Paper Gallery
Region: Northeast
My studio practice starts with systems of research; I scan the media-scape for images or phrases related to human migration, mobility, transience and the over-arching politics of architecture. The images I make have a visual sensibility inspired by Ukiyo-e prints, architectural illustration, vintage comic books, and cinematic space.
For several years my artwork has begun as an investigation of images found in documentary sources, such as newspapers, on-line news sources, and websites for international aid agencies. I start with clippings depicting refugee camps, wreckage left after receding floodwaters, car bombings∑. Through erasure, drawing and collage, visual connections between disparate events form and something new emerges. My media-isolation experiment is intended not to glorify the dystopic events unfolding around us. My interest is in distilling and cataloging the patterns of our daily world through an intuitive editing process. We normally see these kinds of documentary images as topical, something consumed quickly. By sifting through evidence of displacement and strife I discover what is hidden in plain view: essential visual elements that let the eye linger and keep the viewer from turning the page.