Solo show by young student artist

Photo: Emma Maloney, wearing the paper dress she made as a school assignment.

For Grade 12 student Emma Maloney, showcasing her artistic talents is not something she feels naturally comfortable doing. In fact it was her two art teachers at Sharbot Lake High School, Geoffrey Murray and Peggy Hurley, who suggested that she hold a final show culminating her artistic endeavors as an art and fashion student at the school over the years. Emma will be showcasing her multi-media art and fashion work at a show titled “Synthesis: clay, scissors, paper” at Nomad's Rest, 28078 Highway 7, on Friday January 13, 6-8pm.

The show demonstrates Emma’s abilities as both a designer and creator in a variety of mediums. At the forefront in the show will be three dresses, two of which she designed and created for her fashion class with Mr. Murray. The first is a Victorian-style skirt and bodice made from fabric and the second was made for a class assignment to create a wearable paper dress. Emma wears it on the front of the show’s invitation. The paper dress boasts a folded and fanned paper skirt and a paper mache bodice. By far the most intricate dress in the show is one Emma created using 150 pieces of fired clay and 800 beads (phot left); an undertaking that Emma said was “the most frustrating and time consuming work I have made to date.” She explained, “ Pottery can be very unstable and in order in the end to have all of the pieces I needed, I actually had to make 50 extra pieces.” Each separate ceramic piece also required holes for stitch-ability so that after the firing they could be sewn together. Included in the show are drawings of the clay dress design and a slide show that documents the entire process from start to finish. Emma will also be showcasing various 3D and 2D works from her art classes over the years. The former include sculptures; one a stylized bear carved from soapstone, another, an African mask made from clay. In the two dimensional realm Emma will be offering prints, posters, drawings and paintings in both acrylics and oils. One of the oils has political connotations and depicts an Afghan woman in a hijab, with a man’s hand covering her mouth, his skin tattooed with words that aim to silence her.

Painting in oil is Emma’s latest love and she said she enjoys its unique properties, especially how it allows for minute details, color blending - and mistakes, which can be corrected at any point along the way. Also in the show will be large-scale posters, copies of various sketches and drawings that Emma has made over the years.

With still a third of the show to hang, Emma feels the crunch of last minute preparations and admits to “feeling a little bit nervous about the whole thing. I don't want people to think that I take myself too seriously. I do realize that I'm just 17 and am mostly self taught but I think in the end doing the show will have been a good experience to go through.”

Emma will graduate this year and will be applying to the University of Guelph where she hopes to study animal sciences. “I'm also making sure that I will be attending a school that offers a fine art program since I hope to continue studying art as well.”