The Emily Sewell Interview

I first met Emily a few semesters ago while I was studying art at the University of Hawaii.  We had never been in the same studio classes because of our different artistic focuses.  She is a fiber student and I was studying drawing and painting.  We showed work in a small show in Kailua in the Spring of 2010.  Her work in fiber shows a commitment that is rare for a young artist.  She has since won awards for her work and is now preparing for her senior BFA show.  She is a young artist to look out for in the future and definitely a person with many good habits.  I sat down with Emily in her shared studio on the third floor of the art building.  We had some coffee and chatted.  


Good Habits: Full name?
Emily Sewell:  Emily Rebecca Sewell

GH:  Where are you originally from?
ES:  I'm from Parker, Colorado and I came out here in July of 08.

GH: Do you have any good habits?
ES:  I think trying to be a good person is what I try to pursue as a habit.  Living with my heart instead of my head.

GH:  How did you first become interested in art?
ES:  Well my dad always had that influence in my life.  He was a cartoonist.  But I was never good at drawing so as a kid I never really thought of being an artist.  But in high school I started to take sculpture and ceramics a lot and my teacher had a huge influence on my life.  And it kind of let me realize that art was a way to help me to express myself.  So in high school I got into art and it just took off from there.

GH:  Can you talk about your work a little bit?
ES:  My work...I think a lot of it is personal and very intuitive of my feelings.  It's always kind of been my therapy.  It's just a way to express things because I have a problem with communication and I dont think I always properly portray what I want to say.  So I can say these things differently through art.  It's just me, it's really a part of me.

GH:  Why did you choose fiber as your primary medium?
ES:  I think it just fell into my life.  I never knew it and when I moved out here I had to late register for classes.  Fiber classes were the only ones that were open.

GH: So kind of by accident?
ES: Totally by accident!  But in high school I had made ribbons and patches and I was sewing and stuff.  But I guess I never really claimed it.  Its also very performative too...

GH:  I saw some of your performance pictures, can you talk about "performance"?
ES:  Its a way of communication for me.  Its a way I can say something.  As far as performances, they are based around nature.  It seems like its natural for me to do even if its abstracted.

One of emily's performances. Spiritual Home.

GH:  Three favorite artists.
ES:  I think Mary Babcock, she's been a huge influence on the way I see things.  I like women artists a lot.  Street artists, Swoon, I love.  She's really amazing, the things she explores.  (Turns to a friend working in the same studio) Eva, who is that artist that we love? Ja..Janine Antoni?

GH: Oh yeah, Janine Antoni.  She's great.
ES:  Yes, she's beautiful.  She is definitely one of my favorites.

GH:  What are your views on the art scene in Honolulu?
ES:  I think there is a range of younger entrepreneur artists.  I think theres a gap between that and the older group.  So hopefully theres going to be a meeting point for them.   I just hope that new things will be introduced.  Like fiber is not that out there yet.   I think its hard to get opportunities because people stay in the same position the whole time.

detail of Traveling Nomad

GH:  Can you talk about the BFA program and show?
ES:  I think it's really special because students can go with their own visions.  They are able to do what they've wanted to do for a long time but I also think that it is more challenging for students.  The students are in charge of the layout of the gallery, the lighting, the gallery sitting hours...

GH:  When is the opening of the show?
ES:  The opening is the 24th of April, Sunday.  And its running through May 18th or 19th.

GH:  What are you making for the show?
ES:  I've being working with the concept of making spiritual homes.  Its kind of like a protective place.  All of my work is based on being indulgent in the world yet still releasing your inner voice or inner light, if you want to call it that.  Its interesting because it will be in a gallery context, but its actually going to be a wearable piece, kind of like a cloak.  Something that I can be in.

Emily working on her piece for the BFA show

Detail of Emily's BFA piece

GH:  Speaking of wearable pieces, what are you wearing right now?
ES:  I'm wearing some black slip-ons that are falling apart, old jeans that I got from a boutique in Denver, and just a brown, I would say, woven top.

GH:  Are you ready for some word associations?
ES:  Please. I've been waiting for these!

GH:  Beer.
ES:  Delicious.

GH:  Pencils.
ES:  Never use them.

GH:  Vegetables.
ES:  Lettuce.

GH:  Happiness.
ES:  Always.

GH:  Charlie Sheen.
ES:  Don't want to talk about it.

GH:  Tiger blood.
ES:  Tiger blood? No

GH:  Warlocks.
ES:  Never.

GH:  Grass.
ES:  Which one?

GH: Haha. Which one. Thats an awesome answer.

GH:  Airplanes.
ES:  Grandpa.

GH:  Teapots.
ES:  With Eva in our studio.

GH:  What are people saying over your casket?
ES:  That I was always there for them.

GH:  Any last words? Shout outs?
ES:  No shout outs.  You guys are all awesome.