Artist Statement

Several years ago, I enrolled in an abstract painting class. Since that time, the practice of painting has become a path through life.

One mark leads to another. There is no pre-imagined outcome or idea. The paintings come into being through sequences of layering, destruction and rebuilding. The process is a type of alchemy; ultimately my intent is to create work that invites multiple interpretations and repeated examination.

As an Arizona native I have a deep connection to the terrain and skies of the West. Every summer, monsoon skies renew that compact.  Without conscious direction, my work has often been imbued with a sense of place, and in the last year I have tried to consciously push the sense of landscape. The paintings are an exploration of life in the layers, where internalized visions of the natural world in all its complexity and variety can be mined.

Biography

Tucson artist Emilia Arana is an art historian and pianist who has been exploring abstract painting for the last decade.

She was the recipient of several grants, including a Rockefeller Foundation travel grant, while doing research for a master’s these in colonial Mexican art history. After receiving an M.A. from the University of Arizona in 1997, she taught art history as an adjunct instructor at UA and Pima College. She has also taught abstract painting at The Drawing Studio in Tucson.

Gallery Representation

In Tucson, Emilia is represented by Conrad Wilde Gallery

On-Line, see Emilia’s work at ArtJet.com

Selected Exhibitions

Solo Exhibits, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, 2006-2015

Group Exhibits

Harrington Brown Gallery, Memphis 2012

Davis Dominguez Gallery, Tucson, Small Works Invitational 2007-2015

Murray Covens Contemporary, Dallas, 2014

Artspace Gallery, Scottsdale, 2008

Hilltop Gallery, Nogales, 2007

Tucson Jewish Community Center, 2005

Tubac Center for the Arts, 2004-5

Collections

Lewis & Roca, LLC, Tucson

Center for Neurosciences, Tucson

Bryson Capital, Tucson

Private collections