The Perfect Marriage, 2015, oil on canvas, 48" x 42"
I'll quote Emily here: My paintings often celebrate the drama between men and women. In my work the men appear to be angular and aloof, the women rounded and pensive. The male element approaches the robotic, and the female element harks to a romantic past. I am obsessed with the idea of robots, but my robots tend to defy the usual interpretation. They are much too human, as if their designers couldn’t help but duplicate themselves in all their glorious inconsistency and neurosis.
This is by far the largest painting Emily has made. A big canvas like this can be terrifying for a painter to approach. You're never sure if you're up to the task. Instincts fail you, you're a beginner all over again. But Emily has more big canvases lined up!
May 01, 2015
The Perfect Marriage
August 01, 2013
Tour de Zède
I'm tempted to say something about man vs. machine, but they look like they're having too much fun.
Tour de Zède, 2013, oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
July 08, 2013
Cat and Mouse
A dream becomes a circus poster; is she protesting or directing?
Cat and Mouse, 2013, oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
June 28, 2013
An Emily Painting Comes to Life
I've always wanted to do this - document the stages of one of Emily's paintings.
This animated image starts with a tiny woodcut illustration that Emily had for years on a bulletin board. One day she decided to sketch a drawing inspired by the woodcut, and not long after decided to try a sketch on canvas. That was about a year and a half ago, and since then Emily has worked, off and on and in stages, until the recent completion.
Day of the Dead, 2013, oil on canvas, 18" x 24"
If you would like to know more about the painting's stages of development, or see the individual images that make up the animation, please click here.
June 27, 2013
Day of the Dead
Emily has always loved the imagery from the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations. This painting is based on a tiny woodcut that Emily had pinned up for years on the wall of ephemera in her studio.
If they weren't sitting, this handsome couple would qualify as a classic Emily pas de deux.
Day of the Dead, 2013, oil on canvas, 18" x 24"
March 31, 2013
Scapegoat Review
Three of Emily's paintings and two of her poems have just been published in the Spring issue of the Scapegoat Review. You can view it here, or click on the image to the left.
Scapegoat Review is an online literary journal published by Erika Lutzner, who also published the anthology Some Stories Are True That Never Happened which featured the collaboration of Emily and the poet Nin Andrews. (Read about that anthology here.)
March 23, 2013
The Circus of Lost Dreams
Emily and Nin have a book! It is titled The Circus of Lost Dreams. Actually, what they have is an interactive digital chapbook. The chapbook was published by Didi Menendez, the publisher of PoetsArtists, and it features 30 poems by Nin Andrews, all paired with Emily's paintings. It's available as a very cool interactive iBook via iTunes.
The iBook can be viewed on iPads and iPhones - it has audio and video as well as text and images. It's available for free, from this link, or just click on the image below.
In The Circus of Lost Dreams, Nin Andrews and Emily Lisker become a magical duet. The two share an insatiable, tender, and wry imagination. Their poems and paintings together are profound in their insights regarding power, male/female relationships, and spirituality.
- Denise Duhamel
Just finished Nin Andrews new poetry/prose collection "The Circus of Lost Dreams". Andrews has imagined and developed a make-believe island and a personal history that echoes the wild, bizarre, and heightened sexuality of our dreams, yet at the same time never divorces us from the weight of the real world (with all of its human failings and problems) in which we daily walk and breathe. These fable-like tales are full of the enchantments of magic, empowerment, humour, wisdom, and lyrical language. Utterly engaging, fantastical, and at times breathtaking, "Circus of Lost Dreams" is a delight.
- Michael Parker
March 20, 2013
More Videos with Nin Andrews
Just published! Two more videos of Nin Andrews reading her poetry against moving backdrops of Emily's paintings. In the first video, published through the journal MiPOesias, Just the Chillies is paired with Emily's painting Embrace. View the video here, or click on the image below.
In the second video by the same publisher for the journal PoetsArtists, The Dancers is paired with Emily's painting Trio. View the video here, or click on the image below.
And in case you didn't check out the first video, read all about it here.
March 10, 2013
Alphonse and Gaston
I once went to dinner with Emily's grand-parents, rest their souls. In the middle of a chaotic meal, Emily's grandmother called to the waiter "Alphonse, Alphonse!" which seemed unlikely to be anyone's name in this Brooklyn Italian restaurant. Only much later did I realize that her mind, in searching for "Garçon," had stumbled across the names of a pair of cartoon characters from her youth.
Alphonse and Gaston, 2013, oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
March 06, 2013
Wheels Within Wheels
This painting started its life, as do all of Emily's paintings, as a drawing. Unlike the current batch of paintings completed, or nearly so, this one has remained in its infancy. This happens - the drawing is so wonderful on its own that Emily does not want to disturb it. This one could stay this way for years, but I wanted to share it anyway, and give you a glimpse into how Emily paints.
Wheels Within Wheels, 2013, oil on canvas, 18" x 24"
March 05, 2013
Taking After Father
Are the tomato twins anxious to keep up, or anxious about being pulled along?
Taking After Father, 2013, oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
The Bird Maiden
The maiden character has appeared before (see an earlier painting below). She appears in calm command of her flock.
The Bird Maiden, 2013, oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
Cat's Cradle, 2007, oil on canvas, 11" x 14"
March 03, 2013
Target
Target, 2013, oil on canvas, 20" x 16"
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you treat everything like a nail.
Rebus
Take your time solving this puzzle - there may be no solution, or an infinite number of solutions!
Rebus, 2013, oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
February 05, 2013
More on the Nin Andrews/Emily Lisker Collaboration
The pairing of Emily's paintings with the poems of Nin Andrews continues!
Just recently, an online journal called MiPOesias published a video of Nin reading her poem The Art of Drinking Tea against a moving backdrop of Emily's painting Cup of Coffee. You can view the video here, or click on the image below.
This past fall, the poet and writer Erika Lutzner edited and published an anthology called Some Stories Are True That Never Happened. It features five of Emily's paintings paired with Nin's poems. You can look at a preview of the book here (or click on the image to the left) and see the first three. You can also purchase the anthology.
May 13, 2012
Nin Andrews
Over the last few years, the poet Nin Andrews has been writing prose poems inspired by Emily's paintings. Some of these poems have been published in literary magazines (see below for links). This collaboration has been very exciting and rewarding for Emily.
Nin just recently published some of these poems on her blog, accompanied by Emily's paintings. She may publish more in the future, so stay tuned!
UPDATE: As of 5/27 Nin has posted over twenty of these painting-poems!
Emily is amazing. She has this ability to paint what is inside the psyche. I always feel as if I have a museum of my past, a kind of hallway of pictures that frame various moods, relationships, moments. And Emily is the painter of what is on display there.
-Nin Andrews
Here's Nin's official website: www.ninandrews.com/
The publications:
Sweet
Crab Creek Review
Barn Owl Review
Fail Better
La Petite Zine
By the way, you can click on the image to the left to read five of the poems. The link will take you to Picasa. Once there, you'll see a small version of the image. Click on the little magnifying glass with the plus sign, then you can enlarge the image enough to read it.
December 31, 2011
Fruit Goddess
This painting was inspired by the Minoan Snake Goddess, an image that has haunted Emily for years.
Fruit Goddess, 2011, oil on canvas, 16" x 20"
November 20, 2011
October 31, 2011
Modern Times
Modern Times, 2011, oil on canvas, 20" x 16"
An unsettling image for unsettling times.
This is one of a handful of surreal images Emily started a while ago, images that she refers to as Postcards from Saturn.
UPDATE: This painting was selected for the Jamestown Art Center's 2012 show "Statewide," a juried show of works by Rhode Island RISD alumni.
