Emily

Fritts

“In my art I examine personal aspects of my life including an upbringing in poverty, trauma, mental health, and navigating adolescence. My compositions are created primarily by mixing media, incorporating imagery representative of real memories, and using found objects to create a sense of reality. I aim to make the audience feel as though they are looking into a grab-bag of memories, objects, and moments; almost like a junk drawer of souvenirs from the life I have experienced.”

  • “On the Fritz.”

    2023, Mixed Media Collage, 12.5”x9”

  • “I’m still trying to figure out where I fit in”

    2021, Mixed Media and Found Object Assemblage, Installation.

  • "Dodge County Chronicles."

    2021, Mixed Media, Triptych, 8”x8”

  • “Armed at the Teeth.”

    2022, Mixed Media on Plaster, 9”x8”x1.5”

Emily Fritts is an experimental contemporary artist whose work centers on the ideas of identity, memory, and trauma. Although she started out in acrylic painting, her practice includes work with found objects, sculpture, collage, and more. When it comes to mixed media, Emily describes it as limitless.

The subject of Emily’s work revolves heavily around class, her experiences growing up in poverty, and painful personal memories, evoking a feeling of crowded nostalgia.

She describes working on pieces as reliving trauma she has endured, and says it can take a lot out of her to create. She often relies on journaling as both a way to take a step back from her process and a way to generate new ideas to explore in her work. It can sometimes be difficult for her to share her art online, but she hopes other people can find comfort in it. 

Emily finds an immense amount of inspiration through social media (especially Instagram and TikTok), following a diverse group of young artists who push boundaries in the subjects, materials, and creation methods of their work. Much of this experimental artwork focuses on themes of class, race, disability, and sexuality. Something Emily finds extremely important is representation through art. 

“I create a junk

drawer out of my experiences.”

“I feel like there are issues that were completely

shut down 

or ignored or weren’t deemed

as worthy

to be talked about in the art scene that are

now being spoken about by

younger artists.”

When she’s not creating her own work, Emily also works at the Monroe Street Arts Center as an admin assistant and an art instructor. Much of her work there concentrates on introducing kids to art by leading free community family art making studios and instructing sensory-based classes geared towards neurodiverse students.

Her biggest piece of advice for other artists is to not feel like they have to limit themselves in one genre or one medium of art. 

Behind the scenes of

“On The Frits.”

If you stumble across something like this while walking in the forest, you know you have traveled too far…

“Once I kind of realized

that it’s okay to

step outside of

what’s popular and

do what feels good,

I felt like I really

found my place.” 

Whether it’s biting into slabs of clay to create a sculptural piece or helping toddlers drag toy trucks through paint, Emily is no stranger to working outside the box as an artist.

You can see Emily’s work featured in Dane County’ Rape Crisis Center’s 50th Anniversary Art Show at Gallery 1308, Union South through May 26th. You can also find more of her work online at www.emilyfritts.com and on Instagram @frittsart.