For the past decade, Emma Kohlmann has been primarily working in watercolor and painting, creating a distinct universe in which anthropomorphous figures, flora and fauna peacefully coexist in spiritual spheres. Visually informed by a variety of cultural references encompassing Greek and Roman mythology, modern painting history, folk art and DIY punk ephemera, her paintings manifest a cosmos free from hierarchies. Stylistically naive and folksy, the absence of perspectives and lack of relational scales translates the egalitarian belief system Kohlmann’s practice is rooted in. Considering not only human beings, but every living organism, a sense of togetherness and community is palpable throughout her work. In evocative color schemes, Kohlmann’s palettes transcend from nature’s elements to the spiritual, mirroring the unique spaces she creates at the intersection of the earthly and fantastical. 

Emma Kohlmann (b. 1989 in The Bronx, NY) lives and works in Western Massachusetts. She received a B.A. from Hampshire College and has exhibited in the United States and internationally. Most recently she has had solo exhibitions at Silke Lindner (New York), Cooper Cole (Toronto), Jack Hanley Gallery (New York, NY) and V1 (Copenhagen, DK). She has been included in numerous group exhibitions including shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson, (Tucson, AZ) Venus over Manhattan (New York, NY) and Andrew Edlin (New York, NY). Her work is in the collection of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. She publishes her own zines, and frequently collaborates with artists, writers, musicians and designers. She co-founded and co-runs Mundus Press with her sister Charlotte Kohlmann.