My paintings reflect a mounting cultural desire to counter individualism with interdependence. Because our social condition looks like a landscape of loneliness, I paint figures in relation to mountains as a visual representation of the balance between the personal and the collective. In visual narrative, there is a tendency to focus on the individual mountain peak, but these rocky pinnacles are connected to the mountain chain by ridgelines, plateaus, foothills, valleys, karsts and caves. My art is an aspirational visual narrative which serves as a reminder that human beings are social creatures connected by a terrain of mutuality.
My painting style is influenced by the tradition of Byzantine art. I use the system of layering which superimposes progressively lighter colors over an underpainting called proplasmos (or chaos). This technique allows the darkness of the chaos to peak through the finished fine-lined highlights. By applying this process of “painting the light” to both mountains and figures alike, I draw a connection between our enduring relationship to both human and wild nature. By beginning with the primordial and completing the painting with light, I am advocating for hope in a world of alienation.
While western individualism is responsible for social isolation, it also severs us from our connection to the natural world. A narrative of self-reliance sunders us from the ground which supports our weight and sets us free in a void. My art aims at reunification; my paintings depict a reinvigorated understanding of our social nature and a return to harmony with the natural world. By venerating our human and natural ties, my work encourages us to overcome our isolation and rediscover the topography of belonging.
Represented by Northern-Southern in Austin TX and Graphite Galleries in New Orleans LA
Solo and Shows:
2023:
Window Dressing XXXII, ICOSA Collective, Austin TX
2022:
Anthroposcenery, Julia C. Butridge Gallery, Austin TX
2013:
Weak Creatures, Pump Project Flex Space, Austin TX
Group Shows:
2023:
It’s Not About the Weather, Clamplight, San Antonio TX
Titles, Northern-Southern, Austin TX
Going Down, Northern-Southern, Austin TX
2022:
Renewal: Really Small Museum, Austin TX
2/2: Northern-Southern Gallery, Austin TX
2021:
Crit Group Reunion, Austin Contemporary Museum, Austin TX
TO, Northern-Southern Gallery, Austin TX
2020:
Totems, Beacon Gallery, Boston MA
No Outlet, Northern-Southern Gallery, Austin TX
Saint Elmo, Vault Stone Shop, Austin TX
2019:
Tiny Art of Texas, 218 Co-Op Gallery, San Marcos TX
2018:
Fisterra Retrospective, Big Medium, Austin TX
2017:
Cut and Paste, Site:Brooklyn, New York NY
2016:
The Honesty of Rocks, grayDUCK gallery, Austin TX
Liturgical and Sacred Art, Springfield Art Association, Springfield IL
SHE, Sweet Art, London UK
2015:
Minutiae: Museum of Human Achievement, Austin TX
2014:
AHÖM, Museum of Human Achievement, Austin TX
Georgetown Art Hop, Georgetown Art Center, Austin TX
The Tesla Project, Art.Science.Gallery, Austin Tx
2013:
EAST, Fisterra Studios, Austin TX
BYOBeard, Pump Project, Austin TX
The End, Big Medium, Austin TX
2012:
Group Hug, Pump Project, Austin TX
Medium Small, Big Medium, Austin TX
Summertime of the Dead, Wardenclyffe, Austin TX
2011:
The Tesla Project, Pump Project Flex Space, Austin TX
National Arts Program, Mexican American Cultural Center, Austin TX
Eyes Got It, EAST, Austin, TX
Awards and Residencies:
2017 - Artist in Residence, Centre Pompadour, Picardy France
2016 - Crit Group, Program participant, The Contemporary Austin
2016 – Austin Art Boards, selected artist
2013 - Best in Art for the BYOBeard Art Show at Pump Project
2012 - Top 4 Finalist in the Eyes Got It Art Competition, Austin TX
2011 - Special Recognition in the Eyes Got It Art Competition, Austin TX
Interviews:
2013: The Austin Chronicle - Studio Visits: Emma Hadzi Antich
http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2013-03-22/studio-visits-emma-hadzi-antich/