Special to the LPJ.
Many creators find their passion in the final product of their labors or in the reactions their work elicits from those who experience it once it’s complete. For a select few, however, the process itself is where they are most at home and it’s this journey they wish to share with the world around them. Local artist Emily Ezell is one such artist.
Born in Monroe, Louisiana, Lincoln Parish was only a short ride down I20 for her when she came to Ruston in 2004. She received her BFA in Studio Art from Louisiana Tech. Then headed for the big city in 2016 to pursue her MFA in Painting from the New York Academy of Art. Emily found her way home in 2018, returning to Lincoln Parish, and now teaches art at Grambling State University.
Emily’s body of works focuses primarily on figurative paintings that celebrate feminine joy, pleasure, and liberation. “My work is primarily in oil and acrylic, but I also use a wide variety of materials throughout the generative process including digital collage, colored pencils, and ink,” explains Ezell.
She says she has always been creating art. One of her first memories is being in kindergarten and a teacher setting out markers and construction paper and telling Emily and her classmates to make whatever they wanted. Emily remembers how deeply delighted she was to have that freedom to create anything she could imagine.
Emily states that freedom of expression is what drives her artistic passion the most. “Art allows us to process traumatic, dangerous, or provocative concepts in a safe and productive way,” says Ezell. “If you can incorporate beauty into these concepts, they can be better received by most people; then you’re really making something subversive and world shaking.”
Ezell says she adores Procreate as a digital tool that is very intuitive. However, she also loves Prismacolor pencils for her sketchbook as well as Golden Fluid Acrylics, Gapka Neon Oil Paint, Silver Black Pearl round brushes, and Stabilo All Aquarellable Pencils.
Emily explains that she has a lot of high and low inspirations for her work. Among these are 18th century French paintings, corny 80’s fantasy movies, old alchemical texts, and figurative art from the 20th century. She lists artists such as Paul Cadmus, Grant Wood, Remedios Varos, Lisa Yuskavage, Will Cotton, Colleen Barry, Will St. John, and Leonara Carrington among the artists who inspire her. She even says she can find inspiration in something as simple as the latest TikTok trends.
Ezell says that image is the Golden Road to the Psyche. “The hardest thing about painting is the first twenty years; trust the process,” she explains. She claims that simply showing up to your dedicated space is key. Emily swears that she never has artist block because she keeps an ongoing list of ideas of every single concept or phrase or painting that has made her want to make something in response to it.
Her latest body of work is on display at Artspace in Shreveport as part of “The Process” show until October 5. She is also running a workshop there on Thursday, August 8 and 15. “I am very passionate about sharing the process of creating my work, so I encourage folks to follow me on Instagram to keep up with what’s happening in the studio,” says Ezell.
You can find Emily on Instagram at emilyezellstudio or her website at emilyezellstudio.com.
