Emily Stroud

Emily Stroud is an artist from the American South who currently lives and works out of Philadelphia, PA. She received her Masters degree from the LeRoy E. Hoffberger School of Painting at Maryland Institute College of Art in 2023 and her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2018. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and institutions throughout the United States, such as The Birmingham Museum of Art, The Peale Museum, Automat Gallery, Blah Blah Gallery, and The Wiregrass Museum of Art. Her works have been published in the notable art publications New American Paintings and ArtMazeMag. She teaches painting at Rowan University and Philly Art Center.

Mundane moments of everyday life capture my attention and collide with my memories. Layered narratives form at the intersection of three distinct worlds: the lush, haunting landscapes of the American South, my current grounded domestic life in the Northeast and art historical environments. The humid Louisiana air lays the groundwork for my practice. Southern folklore, horror, and the dense swampy landscape of my former home seep into the paintings, just as it does my everyday. Following sometimes at a distance, and other times taking over my consciousness and then my paintings.

Drawn to the charged stillness before horror strikes, I use the volatility of oil paint to guide myself into these non-tangible moments. Through dense brushstrokes I build up the surface of the paintings and eventually find myself in an unfamiliar space. In these spaces, I delve into the intricate layers of my personal history that is interwoven with the vast tradition of painting. My process is one of constant discovery. A perpetual exploration of self-reflection, the physicality of the medium, and the haunting echoes of landscapes both lived and remembered.

PA