Isabel Emrich is a Californian painter who creates intricate expressionistic style underwater paintings of women. The artist carefully captures every wave and ripple of water and giving the viewer a unique glimpse of what otherwise would remain unseen.
In her artist statement, Isabel says she forged a strong connection to the ocean growing up in Southern California. The artist expresses gratitude to her grandmother, who used to take her up to the cliffs overlooking the water to paint in the outdoors.
In 2013, Isabel moved to San Francisco to fulfill her dreams of studying at The Academy of Art University. She received a BFA in Fine Art Painting and Drawing in 2016.
“Emrich explores the sensations of peace and calm one feels submerged in water, the dynamism of moving through water, and of the body luxuriantly enveloped in it. A subject’s body may float freely in a pose of complete relief, but the subject’s face and limbs blur with the airy world above, as they break the surface,” says the artist’s statement.
“Isabel explores the dynamics of this boundary with tension and interplay at work – where air and water and light and body converge. Light plays on the surface, reflecting, dancing in endlessly fascinating patterns. But it also passes through the water, illuminating what is beneath, bringing out the color and life of the body.”
“Different colors ‘pop’ through the light with the changing visuals implied in a moment’s time. Indeed, being in water is one of most explicit examples one can imagine of ‘being in the moment.’ Time stands still, and once and for all the past and future disappears. Zen-like, one is in the here and now.”
“Isabel brings her paintings to life with broad, energetic brush strokes, thick and thin paint qualities, and generous color variety – all hallmarks of Expressionism. In fact, one of her main inspirations is the expressionistic master Van Gogh.”
Check out more of Isabel’s stunning underwater paintings in the gallery below!
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