My current body of work is an exploration of comfort and how I can use not only subject matter, but colors, patterns, light and texture to visually describe how comfort feels. Cats, plants, cozy furniture and my mother’s blanket are all motifs that show up in my oil paintings, usually brightly colored and in sunny spaces. I weave between doing direct studies of spaces in my home and imagining new spaces and items that mingle together to create idealized scenes. I like to leave bits of my process and drawing showing through the paint. Starting with thin washy layers of paint and building up texture over time. The progression and build up of the surface over time excites me and I love leaving the history of past mark-making showing through. Painting is an act of love for me and I hope to evoke some of that warmth and joy in my viewer.

Emma Hixson graduated in Spring 2022 with a double major in Illustration and Visual Art with an emphasis in painting from the University of Kansas. Emma recently had solo shows at the Stephen Smith Gallery in Topeka KS, the Kansas Union Gallery in Lawrence, KS and The Jonas Gallery in Colby, KS. She studied at Mount Gretna School of Art’s Summer intensive painting program in Pennsylvania for the Summer of 2022 and received the Anderson Ranch Scholarship where she took a painting workshop. Emma is currently teaching art at Silver Lake High School. She enjoys taking care of her houseplants and cats, going on runs with her mom, and cooking for her friends.