Matlgirl

EMILY GARTNER’S ARTIST STATEMENT I love the many communities where I have lived, all of them being urban and historic…Bay Ridge, NYC; Cliffside Park & Ft. Lee, NJ, Allentown & Bethlehem, PA.; and now the Art District in Evansville, Indiana. Allentown, Pennsylvania is where I became deeply rooted in my neighborhood’s historic preservation group. Co-chairing the annual house tour was a big honor and lots of hard work for several years. The community where I live is very important to me and this is why I loved working with Indiana Landmarks in 2014 on a solo show in their gallery featuring properties like West Baden and the historic Greyhound Bus Station just to name a few…. Now, I am excited to be collaborating with my alma mater, USI. USI has embraced me completely since moving back to the area 7 years ago. Although, I didn’t graduate with an art degree, I especially love my friends in the art department. Currently, my art begins with digital photography. Those images get transferred onto a variety of different surfaces. I don’t claim to be a professional photographer, but I really enjoy working with the possibilities that can be done by combining technology and creativity. And I tend to lean more to the commercial side of art. My career has included working as a fashion merchandiser in New York City’s garment industry, curating a large textile collection of 12,000 items for the Allentown Art Museum in Pennsylvania and working as a full time artist for the past 17 years. My father was a contractor and decorator. During his free time, he took so my family photographs that we lovingly nicknamed him “Kodak Bill”. My mother was a superb and patient seamstress for her four daughters. I suppose I am a combination of both with my own modern twist. I hope you enjoy some of my prints and wearable art through a different lens.