Emily Rolen is an abstract artist living in Charlottesville. Virginia, and a transplant from the bustle of Northern Virginia. She’s been in love with making art since she was tiny; finger painting and obsessed with pastels and pattern.

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Artist Statement:

Experiencing art is a falling into imagination; into a world or dimension like our own, but more.  More color, more feeling, more texture, and being more acutely in touch with the communal experience of life.  As humans, every day we have hundreds of unexpressed emotions that can’t be put into words.  In contrast, art is an expression of pure feeling.

 

When painting, I take everyday things: canvas, oils, and acrylics, and turn them into a feeling or experience I’m working through.  On canvas, I can color my thoughts, structure them with boundaries and shapes, and blend them together; pouring that emotion into something that can be shared with others.

 

I paint not only to connect and share my view of the world, but also as a way to work through the highs and lows of life.  I try to capture this chaos of experience, splatter it on canvas, infuse it with bright colors, and constrain it in thick textures.