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About

 Emma Difani is a visual artist originally from Albuquerque, NM, living and working in Oklahoma City. She received a BFA in Studio Art and Spanish from the University of New Mexico. Emma has been Artist-in-Residence at the Herekeke Arts Center in Taos, at Oklahoma City University and Artspace at Untitled in Oklahoma City. She teaches printmaking at Artspace at Untitled and Oklahoma City University, is a member of the Factory Obscura Collective and co-founder of Connect:Collect, an annual international print exchange. Her work uses the obsessive layering of printmaking to examine the complex relationships between the natural and constructed environments. 

Statement

I am an observer, a recorder, a collector, a deliberator, a mapmaker. I draw abstract cartographic symbols from the grown and constructed environments. These symbols and characters create landscapes and maps to navigate towards a future deeply rooted in connectivity and respect for people and planet. My drawings and objects of paper and fabric consist of dozens of layers in watercolor, print and graphite. This layering reflects my training as a printmaker and mirrors the overlapping, complex habitats and communities(human or otherwise) that inhabit the places I draw. Appreciation of materials and experimentation guide my process. This ranges from cutting quilt scraps to make into paper to using the leftovers from my kitchen studio to dye fabric to using milk cartons as printmaking matrices. Paper and fabric are a direct synthesis of the natural and the cultural, mirroring my explorations of the relationships between the organic and manufactured, human-made environments. In these works, I map the traces of the grown environment on the constructed one and vice versa. The materials I use are a reflection of the careful, regenerative relationships with nature, place and community that I  cultivate. 

Education

2014     Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico


Exhibitions

Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions

2020      Encircle, Myriad Gardens, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2020      Waystation: Emma Difani and Malcolm Zachariah, Studio Six, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018      Still Moving: Emma Difani and Kacie Erin Smith, Sanitary Tortilla Factory, Albuquerque, New Mexico

2018      Wild Places: New Work by Emma Difani, Untitled Artspace, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2017      Land Listening, Pacific Exhibits, Albuquerque, New Mexico

2013      Echoes, BFA Honors Thesis Solo Exhibition, John Sommers Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 

 

Selected Group Exhibitions

2020       24 Works on Paper, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, Traveling Biennial Exhibition, Oklahoma

2019        Print on Paseo, Juried Printmaking Exhibition, Paseo Art Space, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2019        Pink, Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education, Tulsa, Oklahoma

2019        Please Touch the Art, McKeon Center for Creativity, Tulsa, Oklahoma


2019        Girls Club V. 2.0, The Art Hall, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019        Momentum 2019, OVAC, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019        FRESH Oklahoma, Landon Thomas, Tulsa, Oklahoma


2019        Paseo Annual Juried Members Show, Paseo Art Space, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019        Convergence: Challenging Anthropocentrism, McKeon Center for Creativity, Tulsa, Oklahoma

2018        24 Works on Paper, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, Traveling Biennial Exhibition, Oklahoma


2018        Lynette Atchley, Kyla Bruegel & Emma Difani, Hulsey Gallery, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma


2018        ARS VISIBILIS IV. GENIUS, MECA Mediterráneo Centro Artístico, Almeria, Spain

2018        Artists at Work, Little D Gallery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018        Assembled in Place, Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, New York

2018        Guerrilla Art Park 2018, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018        Where Abouts, Vitrine Gallery, Albuquerque, New Mexico

2018        Steamroller Woodblock, Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018        Momentum 2018, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2017         Printmaking OKC, The Nursery Art Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2017         12 x12, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico

2017         Nasty Women, Current Studio, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2017         Print//Make, Inpost Artspace, Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

2016         Fleeting, Open Space Gallery, Open Space Visitor Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico

2016         Banned, The City of Santa Fe Arts Commission Community Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

 

2016         SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

2013        13th Annual University Print Society Postcard Print Exchange and Exhibition, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

 

2012        UNM Undergraduate Juried Show, John Sommers Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

2012        UNM Print, John Sommers Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

 

Residencies and Awards

2019        Featured Artist, Installation with Malcolm Zachariah, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019        Merit Award, Paseo Arts Juried Member Show, Paseo Art Space, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018        Artist-in-Residence, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2018        Creative Project Grant Recipient, OVAC, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2018        Finalist, FEAST Grant, Paseo Arts Association, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018        Artist-in-Residence, Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018       Excellence in Artistic Achievement,  Momentum 2018, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 

 

2016       Collaborative Printmaking Residency, Herekeke Arts Center, Taos, New Mexico

 

2016       Up and Up Award, SURFACE: Emerging Artists of New Mexico, Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico

 


Press and Publications

2018     Artist at Work, "Artist at Work: Emma Difani", Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, September 2018


2018     The Weekly Alibi, "At Home in the World", Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 2018


2018     The Oklahoman, "Artist Seeks out 'Wild Places in Urban Spaces'", Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, May 24 2018


2016     Harwood Art Center, "Surface:Emerging Artist of New Mexico", Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, June 2015

Professional Experience

2019        Juror, Print on Paseo, Paseo Art Space, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019        Instructor, Screenprinting: On and Off The Page, Oklahoma Children’s Theatre, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019        Curator/Co-Founder, Connect: Collect, International Print Exchange and Exhibition


2019        Curator, Volume:Print as Object, Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019        Logistics Committee Leader, Steamroller Print Festival, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019         Printmaking Demonstration, Oklahoma Arts Day, Oklahoma State Capitol, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma


2019        Committee Member, Momentum 2019, OVAC, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018        Adjunct Instructor, Printmaking, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

2018         Intern, Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, New York

 

2018         Art Moves: Public Art Demonstration, Arts Council of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

 

2018         Mentor Artist/Instructor, Printmaking, Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

 

2018         Guest Curator, Annual Mentorship Exhibition, Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

 

2018         Panelist, Works on Paper Printmaking Panel, Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

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