Music To My Eyes: Paintings By Emily Kraus

And Learning To Press Pause

Feb 25, 2024

A couple of days ago, I met a film producer who said something that really stuck with me:

“I'm pretty much always working, even if it's unconsciously. You never know when an interesting story might pop up or when you'll meet someone that sparks a new idea. It doesn't feel like work, but my brain is always open to new opportunities. And it's hard to switch off, maybe I should, but honestly, I don't want to”.

And I totally get it. I'm pretty much always ‘working’ too. There's an on-off switch, but I struggle to turn it off because, truth be told, I don't really want to. Every day scrolling through Instagram means staying up to date with the art world, both nationally and internationally: discovering online international art fairs, making new contacts in and outside the art world, and discovering new artists. I have folders where I save everything daily and try to challenge myself to remember it all. I love it, but I have to be honest, it's sometimes overwhelming to keep up with all the possibilities and novelties (and I can't remember everything either). So this weekend, I consciously hit the off switch. Tried to stay as far away from the art world as possible. (But of course, can't neglect the newsletter ;)).

And I found it quite amusing, really. Despite my best efforts to take a break from the art world, inspiration has this funny way of finding me when I least expect it. It's like life's little reminders that you can't escape your passions, even when you try. So here I am, trying to switch off, but somehow, I end up with a fresh perspective for the newsletter from someone I met during my ‘off-time’.

Emily Kraus (born 1995, USA, living in London, UK)

We share the same first name and were born in the same year; let me introduce Emily Kraus. I stumbled upon her work during one of my Instagram scrolling sessions. Discovering her art felt like love at first sight: enthralling, exciting, and even exhilarating.

Video still with one of Emily Kraus’ works, 2023 © The Sunday Painter & The artist

Using a unique painting process (watch the video, it is breathtaking), Emily Kraus creates enormous, vivid, and dramatic works. Kraus's method involves a cage-like frame with moving rollers, producing textured canvases that blur the line between painting and printmaking. Her dynamic compositions, influenced by music, offer a tremendous depth of layers to experience. She first experimented with this spectacular technique because her studio space at the Royal College of Art (RCA) was too small to accommodate her large works. This way, she allowed the working space to move around her body, rather than her body moving around in the space. Kraus describes her artistic practice as “painting with blinders on”, as she never actually has full control over the end result and paints by chance (The Sunday Painter, 2024)."

Emily Kraus, Stochastic, 2023 & The artist in her studio during her creation process © The Sunday Painter & The artist

Her work feels rooted in futurism, an early 20th-century art movement that celebrated modernity, speed, technology, and dynamism. Futurist artists depicted movement, energy, and the passage of time through fragmented forms, intersecting lines, and vibrant colors. The style aimed to capture the essence of the industrial age and the excitement of urban life, often portraying bustling cities, machines, and the human figure in motion. Futurist paintings breathe a sense of urgency, innovation and optimism, reflecting the spirit of the era. Nowadays, with technology continuing to grow and improve incredibly rapidly, I believe her work and her unique practice accurately capture the essence of our time

Emily Kraus, Nest Time 3, 2023 (Detail) © The Sunday Painter & The artist

Futurist artists were also very inspired by the rhythms and sounds of modern life, including music. They sought to capture the dynamic qualities of music as if trying to visually show the experience of listening to music.

In Emily Kraus' work, I see a reflection of the dynamic rhythms of modern life. Her use of colour, form, and movement captures the essence of urban existence and mirrors the ever-changing landscape shaped by progress and the popularity of rhythmic and repetitive contemporary music genres such as techno and house. And according to me, Emily Kraus is succesfully creating a visual dialogue that extends the legacy of futurism into the contemporary era.