Emily Browne

Emily Browne graduated from Montana State University with a Master of Fine Arts degree in 2011. She also has earned a BA in Studio Art and Arts Administration from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate from the Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland, Oregon. Influenced by the people and the spaces around her, the large figurative work explores relationships and memories from her past and present.

The way I see the world is directly connected to how I see the people around me.  The space I inhabit is created by the people in my life, and defined by the relationships I observe and engage in.  The images in the drawings are of those to whom I am closely connected. I am part of an abstract space which includes the various people in my community.  In this space, I can bring together and make connections between people from seemingly unrelated periods of my life.  I put individuals with whom I have had similar relationships together, those who have influenced me come together in an abstract space.  The space is not real, or representational of any real space, but empty and dependent on those within it.  The figures in my drawings represent how I interpret the associations I am a part of and how I relate to the relationships I see around me.  By putting these people in the same space, I can examine and explore more effectively how I see them and how they influence me.