Born and raised in the American Midwest, John Emery has spent the past twenty-five years shuttling back and forth between Dayton, Ohio and Burkes Pass, New Zealand, where he established a second home and studio in 2000. These places—so far distant in miles and cultural experience—have distinctly shaped Emery’s vision and art.
Emery’s professional experience began with undergraduate degrees from the School of the Dayton Art Institute and the University of Dayton. After receiving a graduate degree from the Manchester College of Art and Design in England, Emery joined the noted designer Read Viemeister in Yellow Springs, working for Vie Design for 16 years. He subsequently opened his own award-winning firm, Graphic Design Continuum. Frequent sabbaticals to teach and travel have led him to colleges and universities in the U.S., as well as in New Zealand, including a stint as a instructor of design at the University of Canterbury and as the visiting artist at Christchurch College of Art and Design.
His paintings have been exhibited at the Centre of Contemporary Art (Christchurch), the Dayton Art Institute, Akron Art Institute, University of Missouri, Kansas, Gallery of Art, the Dayton Visual Arts Centre and a number of other regional centres.
“My painting process typically begins with a solitary object, my sketchbook journal, or a bird’s song that triggers my curiosity. A visual narrative is then constructed in the same way that I fabricated stories about the neglected objects found in my grandparents’ long forgotten trunks. As with all my works, some elements become three-dimensional as I form them from paper, the most versatile material I know. Thus, the tromp l’oeil illusion of a painted object and the reality of a constructed object shift the perspective and perception of the work and force the viewer to consider the point where reality and the imagined meet. The paintings, like memories, are often not what they seem. The result is a personal narrative. A collection of images, patterns, and ideas provide a device for the viewer to rediscover and reconsider memories from their own life.” – John Emery
