Emily Church’s paintings are an exploration of the passage of time and the reliability of change through the lens of the natural world and the figure.A historic perspective takes into account the Early Renaissance painters that depict figurative mastery with simplicity and a striking calm.The figures in Church’s work show up as prayerful hands, a face in profile, and in shadowed silhouette.Rather than engaging with the viewer, in their style of representation they invite a meditation on a spiritual relationship with the environment in which they are situated.
She represents a world that is arrestingly intense, with a vivacity of color glowing on the surface of her canvas.Alongside moments of verdant growth, though, are more barren moments of branches in winter and rich earthen browns.The consistent nature of time and the constancy of transformation are represented by the change of seasons, the magnolia flower, the rainbow, and the ray of light - fleeting moments of beauty that beg both the viewer and the figures represented to capture the moment before it is gone.
Church’s paintings are lush - layering an abundance of stroke and paint to create a world that is rich, dense, and complex. Her paintings create a mystical space that speaks to a world pregnant with possibility and fragility.They are based on intricate observation while also keeping a foot in a magical world that is just a little bit more beautiful than we might actually see. They are representations of the world in which we all reside and illustrations of a world that we hope we can see if we just look hard enough.