Atlanta Abstract Artist Emily Davis

Ask any individual "What is art?" and you'll likely get a hundred responses. Though every art form, in a sense, has value, some are more widely recognized than others. Emily Davis, an artist living in Atlanta, is a creator of many art forms.

Speaking about her work in Decatur's famous Java Monkey coffeehouse, she expounded on some of her inspirations, art forms, and thoughts on contemporary art in general. Though Davis is interested in a number of different media, she says that at the moment, "I mainly use colored pencils, but I also do pen and ink, charcoals, watercolors, and graphite."

Atlanta's Got Talent

Art is something that comes naturally to Davis; she has, in fact, been making it since "first or second grade. I was just doing pencil sketches, not that complicated. I got to design the bathroom mural for my school's bathroom in fifth grade! My friends got me to draw stuff for them all the time and came to me when they wanted something."

Besides visual art, Davis "play{s} five instruments. I'm mainly a drummer, but I also play electric and acoustic guitar, flute, trumpet, and keyboard. I play all sorts of rock, funk, contemporary jazz, and I guess you could say 'world music,' like Brazilian and Afro-Cuban." Even without having heard Davis' music, one might imagine that it's extremely versatile and never gets boring.

Those unfamiliar with Davis' visual art may wonder about her style. She says she has many inspirations: "Visually, my favorite artist is Andrew Wyeth. He just died a few months ago...he's one of the most famous American painters. He did both amazing realist work with symbolic undercurrents and a lot of minimalist work, trying to understand negative space."

Stop, one of Wyeth's well known pieces, brings to mind the concept of "negative space" (familiar to most artists) to which Davis refers. It depicts a motorcyclist stopped at a traffic light, with many shades of gray and brown, as well as black. Its negative space, however, appears across the center of the painting, creating a definite mood and giving it an important sense of stillness.

The Surreal Life

Besides Wyeth, Davis confesses she loves "Surrealist {work}, like Dalí, Man Ray, and George Condo; kind of contemporary Surrealism. George Condo did a ton of portraits that could be really horrifying and grotesque, in trying to make the monstrous beautiful - giving it a life of its own."

During the interview, Davis was hard at work on an abstract drawing, made using colored pencils. She says it was partly inspired by Aztec art, or "more broadly...sacred or spiritual art, which often takes the form of mandalas. I find a kind of worship or appreciation of life through that style. Heavily patterned work has a meaning of its own to me.

"Drawing on past cultural traditions and world art helps me tap into history and give me a sense of the human legacy." The drawing in question, which at the moment is still presumably in progress, absolutely brings the "human legacy" concept to mind, with its multitude of colors and fantastic patterns.

Though Davis has yet to display any of her work online, she says a website is in the works. "I don't know the domain name yet or anything...I've considered using deviantART.com, but I haven't set up an account yet."

She says she has only recently moved back to Atlanta, after having spent several years in Athens, GA. "In Athens, where I went to UGA, there were several {artists} who were pivotal in the development of my personal style. The spontaneity was part of it...they never know what they're going to do when they sit down with a blank page or a canvas. You have to be in the moment, and dedicate yourself to it. I used to be obsessive about planning my work, but now I just don't care about that...whatever comes out is how it's meant to be."

Feelin' Uninspired...

Nearly every artist has points in which her "personal canvas" is blank; i.e. she feels unable to produce anything. To combat this, Davis says she "really just work{s} well in public places, like Java Monkey. I need constant stimulation of some kind. But when it comes down to it, I can make art anywhere; it's all inside."

Just as Picasso had his "Blue Period," and art as a whole has encountered numerous movements, so has Davis' work undergone changes throughout her young years. "Recently I've been going for the more worldly, abstract style," she explains, "because I do everything from the realistic to the completely abstract and surreal." Unfortunately, because Davis has not yet made her her work available online, it is difficult to visually illustrate.

"Last year, pretty much all I did were Surrealist sketches; it was all from the subconscious. It was all kind of disturbing and grotesque...some of my friends had to tear pages out of my sketchbook because it was too disturbing! But if you deny that as an artist, it's so limiting, because everyone has that side to them."

No Shortage of Critics

A great many artists, poets, and filmmakers have difficulty dealing with criticism, especially the brutally honest variety. Davis, however, has come to accept it: "I used to have a really big problem with criticism; but now I've realized it's useful. I've grown a lot from people giving suggestions and methods of improvement. With this stuff {like the mandala drawings}, I usually only get compliments, but with more experimental and Surrealist work...it's very difficult and offensive to people's morals - like someone picking up a dead body on the side of the road.

"But I often have those reactions to other people's art, too; you just have to be still and consider it." As evidenced by the public reaction to certain artistic works and films, the "be still and consider it" method isn't always put into practice. In Davis' eyes, however, "...it's a real treat to have your morals assaulted...to have to realign your morals or perceptions."

It Belongs in a Museum!!!

Despite her love of art, Davis confesses that "I kind of hate museums...I think they should all burn, except for small independent museums. Art is supposed to be for everyone, and they're just jailing it in these small, antiseptic hallways!"

As for the museums she likes to visit, "I only like the more intimate kinds of spaces, without people rushing around like hordes of cattle and trying to see everything."

At times, there are those who say that they want to create art, but feel they lack talent or simply don't know where to begin. Some may approach established artists for advice, but Davis says she has yet to really experience this: "Since I'm not in the public eye very much yet, not really, except for my close friends...we'd advise each other on our artwork. I think that may be for the same reason I don't go to other people and ask them for advice...it's a pride thing."

When it comes to commercialized art, like that used in advertising, Davis feels that it can lose something by being produced for profit: "It easily can...but first and foremost, I don't agree with the 'starving artist' mentality, that it would be taking the beauty away from it. It can happen if you bend to public opinion just to have commercial success. I plan to profit from my artwork, but I'm not going to change my vision just so that others will buy it."

Come On My Selector

Having already named some of her influences, Davis ruminates on whether there are any artists she hates: "Yes, I know there are, but I can't think of any at the moment...I pretty much hate all the artists that do graphic design for TV commercials. And I just generally hate music videos, too."

On the other hand, one notable exception to Davis' hatred of music videos is Chris Cunningham, the genius behind such promos as Aphex Twin's "Come to Daddy" and "Windowlicker," and Tom "Squarepusher" Jenkinson's "Come On My Selector." In the same sense that the Surrealists were innovators of their time, so too is Cunningham in his, by bending genre conventions and redefining the concept of "music video."

While some artists may go about an elaborate planning process before creating one of their works, Davis doesn't necessarily begin with a concept in mind: "Only when I'm doing portraits and realist stuff, drawing what I see...sometimes with other things too, like creatures or science fiction-related themes. But generally I stay in the abstract."

And All of This Controversy Circles Me...

Inevitably, bold and challenging art pieces tend to cause controversy, be they films, paintings, songs, or literature. Regarding the idea of censorship in America, Davis feels there is "not so much censorship as lack of appreciation...people don't think the artist has a place in society, or that it's a legitimate profession. I'd say that's definitely an American thing.

"Outside the U.S., it's the complete opposite. In Germany, for example, artists are able to paint all over the street and public spaces...it's not just confined to museums. So {I feel that way about} Europe in general."

In terms of further exploring her own artwork, Davis would like to work with "paint, particularly. All sorts of paint...I mentioned watercolors, but I haven't even done much with that. It would probably be oils or tempura."

Besides paint, she expresses the desire to create "mixed media too, like collage...and encaustic, mixing wax with paint. I know of a single artist that does it; her name is Sherry Cook. She's a friend of mine." For the curious, some of Cook's work can be seen online at her personal site.

So, although none of Davis' own work is yet available online, she plans on remedying that shortly. Keep an eye out for this up-and-coming prodigy's handiwork...it will soon be in the public eye.