Emily Beeman
Excellence Award Winner
Drawing
Drawing allows you to experiment boldly and build a cohesive body of mindful, personally significant work.
For most of my career as an artist, I focused just on graphite, making drawings about animals, roadkill, and the cyclical fragility of life. More recently, though, I've been interested in the potential of embroidery and the messiness of the backside-the thread on the back takes a life of its own, both in and out of my control simultaneously, knotting and tangling as I work on the opposite side. When I work the both the front and the back, I get the best of both worlds—a balance between control and surprise.
What is your most memorable
experience at KCAD?
I founded a student organization here, and I'm going to carry the skills I learned from it and friendships I made with me for a long time. Originally, I'd hoped to revive the defunct Art History club, but it failed and I revised our mission to be more broadly about situating your work in a Contemporary context. Since then, it's blossomed and allowed my members and I to grow as both artists and people; we've juried, curated, and installed exhibitions, hosted critiques, organized technical demonstrations, and more.
What are your most
notable accomplishments?
One of my graphite drawings was recently exhibited in Manchester, England. I feel exceptionally lucky to have been selected as one of the 20 from 700 applicants and to have the opportunity to show my work on another continent.