When did you first take an interest in art, and what was evolution of your interest?
I first started drawing as a child. I particularly loved drawing fashion models and my dolls, Barbies. Once when I was young, maybe 4 or 5, I drew a Barbie fully naked and scared my proper parents so much that they wanted to take me to see a priest [laughs]. I was a bit of a rebellious spirit when I was younger, not in a particularly wild way but just growing up in a traditional Irish community and taking a less traditional life path. Like most artists, I was creative and curious about the world around me. So drawing was my start in the arts and as I got older, I began to experiment with other mediums, like painting and collage. The female form has remained a favorite subject and a prominent theme in my art.
What encouraged your interest in bodies and human subjects, more than still life and the inanimate forms that many artist begin with and continue to favor?
I really enjoy capturing people's emotions. In every piece, whether a painting or a photograph, I want to show the subject's personality, their confidence. Especially as a young woman, in trying to figure out who you are, you look for traits that you want to embody. Finding confidence in women as subjects has always been important to my work.
How has your work progressed in your adult life?
From drawing, I moved on to painting. I studied illustration at Parsons, which has influenced my art but I never worked in illustration directly. I became interested in large-scale paintings and portraits. I feel that with scale you can have greater impact and express yourself more with broad brush strokes and a different vantage point than we have day to day. Scale brings more life into a work and the larger image offers more space for the details you want to convey.
How does the use of color function in your work?
I always found myself using a lot of primary colors in my paintings, not really intentionally but more instinctively. Now in my photography, I tend to lean towards very colorful, sharp contrast images or purely black and white. My color images are deeply saturated and full of detail, so there is either a heavy use of color or the absence of color. I find the contrast visually appealing.
What sparked your interest in photography?
It was almost by happenstance. I often found myself working with Photoshop as part of the creative process. I would make a photo collage and then I would paint the collage into a painting. I started to realize that I was actually more interested in the collaging process with the photos and the photographic images themselves. I wanted to create original content, so I bought a camera and began designing and staging my own photo shoots.
As you have moved towards photography as a pursuit, what are your favorite themes to explore currently?
I still work a lot with the human body. In a recent photo collage series, Nudes in New York, I merged nude photographs with city scenes. There is something about the intimacy of the human form and New York, the ultimate Gotham, intersecting that felt right to me. The exposures and contrast were interesting to layer and blend into one.
As you look to the future, where you would like to see your work go from here? What are your next steps as an artist?
There is definitely range in my work but I try to bring the best of myself to every aspect of it. I am very open to the process of where my art will take me. That is how I have evolved and the path I hope to continue with the art I create. One of my teachers at Parsons told me that, "sometimes the accidents are actually the art itself." Maybe the accident is a paint canister sitting on a piece of paper, and the splashes and residue actually become part of the art itself. With photography, the same idea applies. You can plan as much as you want but you never know exactly how the subject will move, or their expression will change, how the environmental conditions are going to be, who or what may happen into your lens. It's just about being prepared to take a shot and having the insight to know how to use the shot. For my Nudes in New York, I was experimenting with Photoshop, layering different images and in the process, the art just came together. I can never predetermine what the final product will be or exactly how it will look. I just play around with things until I feel that it's right. Mostly, I explore and see where the spontaneous "accidents" of my art are going to lead me.
For more information about Emma Reynolds and Emma Reynolds Photography, visit: http://www.emmareynoldsphotography.com.
Interview by Jennifer Sauer for Art Week.
Jennifer Sauer is a writer who holds an M.A. in Literary Arts from New York University. Her background includes writing and communications for diverse fields including the arts, charitable foundations and the financial sector. She lives in New York City with her husband and son.
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