Emma Kalff
“I am interested in discovering the degree to which you have to tweak the real world before it becomes surreal – my paintings are an investigation into this question. ”
Emma Kalff is a representational oil painter whose work recreates the surreal atmosphere of dreams and memories. She received classical training in oil painting at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts and is currently based in Colorado.
Q&A
Explain your process.
I work on wood. I’ll start with a blank panel and drive down my favorite back roads until I find a scene I like. Then, I pull over and set up my easel and paint. After that I’ll take the painting into the studio and work from photos, layering in images of my friends – eating at the drive thru, hugging each other, smoking, everyday stuff.
What concept or narrative is behind your work?
In my latest series, Holding Your Horses, I have worked to recreate the subtle, sometimes unsettling atmosphere of memories and dreams. My paintings contain everyday elements – landscapes, figures, architecture – that are subtly mismatched so as to throw the viewer a bit off balance, make them look again. I find that when I remember something, I may not remember where it happened, but I remember a weird detail like someone’s face or the pattern of a carpet. Dreams evoke for me a similar surreal feeling, a displaced familiarity. Dreams and memories are the precious realms of private emotion we all inhabit, and I enjoy exploring them through painting.
However, there is no concrete idea that I am trying to transmit with my work. I always try to leave room for the viewer to make up their own mind about the paintings. I am pretty wary of conceptual art. I still think good painting is really about composition, value and color before anything else.
What influenced your art style?
I was fortunate enough in 2018 to be given a scholarship to attend the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art. I studied under Auseklis Ozols, a brilliant classical oil painter. I soaked up every gem of knowledge I could from him and so many other wonderful professors at the school. My time at the Academy gave me a solid foundation of skills to build upon in producing my own work.
I also read a lot of artist biographies – right now I’m in the middle of Just Kids by Patti Smith, as well as The Norman Rockwell Illustrator by Arthur Guptill. Books about the lives of artists always contain a wealth of creative raw material and are infinitely inspiring to me. I’ve been particularly inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper, Zoey Frank, William Bouguereau, and Peter Van Dyck.
“I created my current series, Holding Your Horses, with the goal of providing the viewer with an emotional experience while looking at the paintings. ”
Bio Highlights
Featured in American Art Collector magazine, Issue 205, Nov 2022
Featured in Aesthetica magazine, Issue 109, Oct/Nov 2022
Featured in Southwest Art magazine's "21 Under 31 - Young Artists to Watch", August/September issue
Selected as part of 33 Contemporary’s group show “Me, Myself and I”, Chicago, IL, Nov-Dec 2022
My work is available through 33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago. It can be purchased online through Artsy, or at my website – www.emmakalff.com.
