This is our mini-interview with Emma Klingbeil! Her artwork is really wild, the characters are very goofy and stringy nutcases! We love it!
Troy: HI Emma! Tell us a little bit about yourself… we noticed you were in Wisconsin… tell us, do you like fried cheese curds? They are my favorite.
Emma: They are pretty fantastic…I remember living in Nashville I brought a 10 lb. bag back to work and was treated like a god!! The bag never reached it’s end though…
Troy: So where did these little creatures of yours come from? They are all awkward little guys, very stringy, with really gawky features. Is this how the rest of us look to you? What is going on in your head!?
Emma: I’ve always loved over-exaggerating figures; I actually do physically feel like them sometimes… They’re things I used to draw once in awhile during high school, just having a good time with them - although they have gotten “cuter” over the years. I stopped for awhile after a friend said, “don’t you get sick of drawing the same thing?” After my private, self-proclaimed and unknown hiatus, I got into it again when I opened a little art shop here in Wisconsin. I got turned onto “Salad Fingers”, a cartoon by David Firth, and that really inspired me to keep going with these. I don’t know how to explain the head question…I find people’s everyday activities really interesting and peculiar for some reason, and try to portray those situations; like talking to a friend or acquaintance, “I was waiting for a phone call…”, (me intrigued), “..and THEN WHAT??!?” it’s fascinating, the suspense is killing me!!
Troy: Many of your pieces are character studies of “the writer”, “the collector” and so on, which makes me wonder: If Emma Klingbeil was drawing Emma Klingbeil what would be the easiest “label” to pin on you? The __________?
Emma: the over-thinker (for example, that took me a week to answer)
Troy: What kind of dreams do you have? Can you describe your most unusual/memorable dream?
Emma: I could, but that would take a lot of time…I dream through the night and they’re pretty long installments. Last night I dreamt I was someone else wandering around in the woods…I had a house, but it wasn’t lived in for awhile; then I ran into a wizard, so on and so forth.
Troy: What is the weirdest / strangest thing you ever have seen? Something unexplainable…
Emma: It’s going to take four weeks to answer that one…
Troy: We love to find out about artists our artist friends admire… please give us some local artists or artists that you really like that we probably have never heard of (links are awesome if you have them!)
Emma: I’m really enjoying Cassandra Smith’s bejeweled taxidermy right now - http://www.cassandra-smith.com/
Brad Woodfin -
http://www.bradwoodfin.com/index.html
Jacek Yerka -
http://www.yerkaland.com/
Patrick Hruby
http://www.patrickdrawsthings.com/
there’s so many…many more.
Troy: What are you listening to these days?
Emma: A ton of Mike Patton
what’s actually playing while I’m typing is Delta Spirit
Troy: Tell us about any new projects, ideas, or plans you have in the works that involve your amazing creativity… inquiring minds want to know!
Emma: I’m working on paper dolls currently…going under an “alias” - paper thin saga - since they’re quite different from the “little creatures”, they’re more realistic characters, but pretty much in the same kind of situations. I’m really getting into 3D work…it’s fun to literally build something.
Emma! You are awesome! Your artwork is weird and that is purdy kool! Thanks for the nice interview! - Troy and Stephano
Check out her shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/emmaklingbeil
