Emma Stanton, 2023 BFA Alumnus, Exhibits for Hunt Residencies VI

Throughout my life, I have always found joy in art making.  I’ve always been creating in some capacity, if not for joy, for solace and healing.  My art has become a vehicle of play, a way to reconnect with myself, and this is most present in my current explorations in mark-making.

Historically I have been interested in abstracting the human body, which has gradually moved further inward to the intestines, and presently shrunk down to the building blocks of life. Images of cells under a microscope are often digitally altered by scientists with vibrant colors to differentiate elements, which create playful images that inspire me.  I also find inspiration in bubbles, ripples in water, and visual disturbances such as auras, all of which are impermanent, as are living cells. The bubbles I blow as I play may pop only moments later, but the mark remains permanently.

I am a painter. Most of my work is supported on traditional canvas, but I also seek to explore ways of breaking the two-dimensionality of canvas by creating painting based installations.  Folding the painted bubble paper into origami cranes, a process I’ve deeply engrained in my muscle memory since childhood, provides a familiar rhythm and a calm in moments of anxiety or stress. 

These fleeting moments of life, whether it be the microscopic cells dancing across your vision or in a petri dish, or bubbles floating down to the paper below are all reminders of the present moment.

Buffalo-based painter, Emma Stanton, has been most recently using art as a vehicle for play.  She is currently a Resident Artist at the C. Stuart and Jane H. Hunt Gallery in downtown Buffalo and at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.  At the University at Buffalo, Emma earned her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts, where she focused on painting and printmaking.  In her artistic practice, she draws inspiration from her lived experiences as well as from the structures that make up life.

She has shown her work multiple times at the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts galleries, Buffalo Arts Studios, and PineApple Co, and is an emerging artist in the Buffalo area.

The C. Stuart and Jane H. Hunt Art Gallery (Hunt Gallery) opened its doors in April 2022, offering exhibitions and events to the public, as well as studio space to artists in residence.

Hunt Gallery's lower level hosts emerging artists in a not for profit, artist in residence program, Hunt Residencies.

This initiative is designed to provide emerging artists with valuable mentorship, exhibition opportunities, and studio space for a period of 6 months. By providing a nurturing environment and valuable resources, the gallery is committed to fostering the career development and representation of emerging artists in Buffalo. 

Artists have opportunity to collaborate and exhibit work throughout the duration of their occupancy, and utilize Hunt Gallery platforms.