rolling into 2025 with two solo exhibitions for emma childs and scott upton. both are abstract painters who use palette and shape to communicate and engage the viewer. emma childs a young painter from baltimore pushes the boundaries of abstract painting by building her own shaped canvases as well as off setting squares to challenge the concept of the traditional painting. instead of feeling off balance her paintings somehow anchor you in her topsy-turvy world. powerful, sophisticated shapes transport the canvas constantly shifting your focus.
north carolina artist scott upton builds up his canvas through layers and layers of mixed media to create a luminous, transparent canvas conjuring a hazy memory of the landscape. his work is soothing and calm. bringing you back to the peace and quiet we all long for to keep us centered and balanced.
emma childs was born and raised in baltimore, maryland and received her bfa in fine arts from the maryland institute college of art. she uses eloquent shapes and thoughtful pops of color to create objects that physically interact with their environment. through her minimalist approach, childs transforms experiences and emotions into simplified form, color, and geometric edges. the results are eye-catching compositions, which tell complicated and interconnected narratives in an accessible way. emma childs’s paintings are layered depictions of existence in the worlds we build around ourselves.
childs has been featured in dwell magazine, british vogue, uk house and garden, create! magazine, artmaze magazine london, and new american paintings issue 154. childs’ work is held in collections across the united states, including amazon hq2.
born in 1996, american painter emma childs graduated from the maryland institute college of art with a bfa in general fine arts. in this current body of work, childs, a baltimore native, has been developing a language of painting that allows her to explore the way we exist in the world we build around us. childs’ work explores moments of chaos and mundanity, freedom and containment, isolation and contact. she is interested in the ability of a work to evoke an energetically emotional response from the viewer as well as creating objects that physically interact with their environment, to walk a line between creating something self-contained as well as reaching outward.
while creating efficiently eloquent shapes, choices of color and application are integral steps within childs’ process. transforming experiences and emotions into a language of simplified form, color, edge, and paint applications has allowed her to simplify what are actually complicated interconnected metaphors about relationships and the world we build around us.
scott upton received his ba in fine arts from the university of north carolina at asheville. upton’s abstract paintings are filled with color and texture. his distinctive compositions reflect strong geometric shapes with a subtle suggestion of a landscape. the canvases glow with multilayers of acrylic paint and concealed reflective textures using silver and gold leaf. rubbing and abrading reveal layers beneath the surface and create the effect of change over time through weathering.
“i’ve always maintained that my work is about color and light and their effect on our emotions. my inspiration comes from nature, whose sublime forms and colors and chaotic power shape the ever-changing landscape. for me, light is the unifying force, transforming everything it touches by banishing darkness and encouraging renewal. in my work i’ve always sought to suggest, in addition to the beauty, the feelings of hope and peace that light imparts.
my painting process involves as much intuition as skill, and a surprising amount of sheer physical labor. to convey the emotional impact of change, time, weather, and light, i employ a wide range of techniques. I lay down rich fields of color, enhanced by many layers of transparent glazes. to intensify the effects of depth and mystery, i may use a foundation of metal leaf or applied textures. after building up a surface i then scar it or even scrape it away only to cover it over again with a new layer. i like “closing away” lower layers, except for scattered spots of color—a reminder that more is happening in a painting than what is perceived on the surface. I hope this process creates for the viewer a calm moment in which to reflect on what, in a larger sense, has been hidden from view.”
all available work by each artist can be viewed on our website under their individual tabs including sizing + pricing. hidell brooks gallery is by appointment. please call the gallery if you have any further questions.