“Whoever speaks with primordial images speaks in a thousand voices” - Carl C. Jung
Jack Hanley Gallery is excited to present Emma Kohlmann’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. For the exhibition, Kohlmann presents a new series of works on paper and canvas.
Emma Kohlmann’s drawings and paintings retrace the subconsciousness through a symbolism drawn from erotica, ancient statues and figurines, or mythological narratives. Androgynous nudes touching each other or themselves, butterflies, plants and wondrous animals with human faces all coexist in Kohlmann’s dreamscapes that are fantastical and deeply spiritual.
The immediacy of the watercolors and sumi ink on paper with their fluid figures reflect the surreal spheres the viewer gets drawn into. Like automatic drawings the blobs and lines seem to channel the unconscious. Grouped by color and arranged in large grids, the drawings piece together the cache of symbols like a hieroglyphic script.
Emma Kohlmann (b. 1989 in the Bronx, NY) lives and works in Amherst, MA. She received her B.A. from Hampshire College, Amherst, MA. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including solo exhibitions at Nationale, Portland, OR, and Kit Gallery, Tokyo. Selected group exhibitions include the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, OR, MOCA Tucson, AZ, and New Release, New York, NY. Kohlmann publishes her own artist’s books, zines and made various record covers for music labels.