Emmett Hartlove
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My work has been based around creating art objects for my environment. These acts of creation take the form of painting, woodworking, curatorial compositions, manipulated textiles, mapping, and focusing on insignificant belongings from myself and others to elevate them to importance.
Prioritizing found objects and texts, I will mix the objects I create, often utilizing unexpected and unconventional materials for their capacity to hold other kinds of meanings. Material execution, I believe, holds equal importance to subject matter and reference. The ability to present the qualities of a given material can be the art. In my recent work, I've focused on remembering the value of the impermanence of my forms for the way in which it allows space for pieces to continue to grow.
I'm also interested in the role of traditional technique in the context of western visual creation and portraiture. The sublime tension that can exist between a charged locale and material is something in which I hold deep regard. When making, I consider the natural form of the subjects I’m working with as a way to discover connections and likenesses between them. This method allows for a practice that is not derived from a pre-formed plan, but one that is informed by the materials’ qualities and the objects themselves. It’s guided by a dialogue between me and the subjects and materials and their stories.