Desert Dwellers

Watercolor, gouache, and ink on Rives printmaking paper, 15x22, 2026, $400

My work explores the texture of space by visually examining relationships between human and natural ecosystems. Through a visual language of odd humanoid creatures, exaggeratedly strange animals, and mythical foliage, I invite viewers into my personal world. I create the landscapes I wish to inhabit, believing that we can discover parts of ourselves by encountering the inner landscapes of others. My work is process-oriented, with an emphasis on letting my inner world wander across my chosen canvas, paper. My engagement with bright colors, known and unknown shapes, and the relationship between all things brings forth connection through the intimacy of play.
My work is constructed in layers of ink, watercolor, and gouache paints on Rives printmaking paper. This process is most often performed throughout a week, starting each piece with ink outlines of my strange creatures. I take myself on walks around my neighborhood and local parks during my downtime, believing this to unconsciously inspire my mythical foliage and the various forms my ink drawings might take. My ultimate drive with creation is to know thyself and to inspire creativity in those who view my work. Rooted in my drive to paint my inner landscape and discover myself through my creative process, I am more driven by the ways my art makes me curious than by painting what makes me curious. I value the ways the mind can play and create when given the space to do so, and I imagine each piece of work as a larger puzzle piece in the pursuit of discovery. I identify successful work as that in which I recognize something in myself, particularly something that exists beyond language. My work exists to discover new shapes and forms of expression by way of my mind’s play with materials.

Emma Graham (she/her), based in Seattle, WA, is a multidisciplinary artist focused on watercolor and gouache painting. She is known for her playful and colorful style that emphasizes exaggerated and strange perspectives of humans, plants, animals, and landscapes. She explores themes of belonging, self discovery, and play through her painting, engaging in a playful relationship with the sometimes unpredictable nature of water. Graham is a self-taught artist whose practice is rooted in creating intimate relationships with her materials. Her work has been shown across the Pacific Northwest and in various print magazines. Her current work is rooted in discovering what she calls her “personal folklore,” in an effort to deeply understand her sense of self, the world around her, her relationship to others, and her desire for others to connect to their own creative self and history.