We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Haag-fowler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Probably my first real sand painting. I had made numerous pieces using sand by this point, but I had struggled with what exactly was the subject of my work. I was still feeling things out and trying to learn this new material. And then it clicked for me that the sand itself was really the subject. The thick, rough texture, the build-ability of it. That’s how I cam to make “Blue Border”, which is possibly still my most favorite piece I’ve made.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Emily Haag-Fowler and I am a contemporary abstract expressionist painter. I had started art very young, first really trying to make things as realistic as possible. I actually remember a time where my art teacher, Jennie Traill-Schaeffer, had me stop working on a drawing that involved dollar bills, because it was getting a little too close to forgery. But once I got in RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) I completely changed gears.
I struggled to find joy in the realism by this point and switched completely into abstract works. I had never done anything like this before and struggled with it for a bit, but it felt like I had opened this new world that fascinated me. One of my professors told me to be the shark of my paintings (it helps to know that I have a deep fascination with sharks and this was prevalent in many of my early college works), to attack the paintings like a shark and everything suddenly made sense.
I have to be impulsive with my works. There is no planning or preconceived end product when I begin creating, as working towards an end goal immediately ruins the organic nature of my work. Mixing the sand into acrylic has become as much a part of the art as the piece itself. Shoveling layers of sand mixture, forming peaks and dunes, scraping away, carving, and building; the composition comes second to the process of manipulating the materials. The work itself is very physical, and quite literally heavy, with its own form of disorder in its materiality.
I still do quite a bit of realism, creating pet portraits as a steady stream of income, but my true passion is through my abstracts. The challenge and limitation of the sand mixture is very energizing, using motifs of memory and current states of emotional wellbeing to guide it. Sand is a very provocative material, soft and inviting, while simultaneously abrasive and irritating. Sand can greatly affect one’s mood, whether it gets stuck in your bathing suit or you let it run through your fingers and rest between your toes. The sand often evokes enjoyable memories and experiences of going to my grandparents’ beach house in the warm summer months. The rhythmic motion of the crashing waves gives a sense of comfort and familiarity. Jacques Benveniste theorized that water holds memory. Now a widespread cliché made known through the popular Disney film, the theory still rings true to my process. Memory is very important to my work, and can often be blurred or distorted by time. While the oceanic water has yet to hold a physical presence in my works, sand is its placeholder, often more pronounced. Sand, in its own right, is very important in my art making as a pushing and pulling of irritation and satisfaction that sand allows me to feel is reminiscent of what I want my works to express.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
It’s really just the ability to sit down and feel and let that feel become physical. It’s like a form of therapy and I find it fascinating to have found a way to express myself, as someone who is not one for speaking about myself generally. Having a mode of expression has opened myself to the world in ways I would have never expected.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I am currently in the middle of a pivot. About 45 days before my wedding my now husband and I had a tree land on our house. It came through my studio space and for the past six months I have not been able to use my studio. It has been hard finding new ways to get creative, but making smaller works and creating things outside of my normal medium has helped along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://haagstudio.com
- Instagram: @haagstudio
