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