Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

My name is Em Aull, most people call me emmy. I am a painter and occasional sculptor. I was born and raised in beautiful Indianapolis, IN. I am currently living and working in Brooklyn, NY alongside my tiny amazing dog, Bug. I also make a fanzine called 45 Party, where I haphazardly review 45 rpm records and collage pictures of hot rods. I hope to one day own a hot rod of my own.

Are there any influences that are core to your work?

My influences are kind of infinite. When I paint, I try to condense all the information my brain has been taking in onto the canvas. When I love a book, or a song, or watch a really good football game— it’s noted in the painting. When I’m frustrated, or feel the void, or am heartbroken— it’s noted in the painting. Because of that my work takes the shape of whatever I’m into or feeling at the moment. Sometimes I get inspired by another artist and sometimes it’s a random guy I saw delivering birthday balloons on his bike. Sometimes my paintings act as a collage of influences, sometimes they work as a thread. I like to think I’m just having fun, and showing you how I got there. A few recent and always influences in no particular order: martin wong, sun ra, prince, yoko ono, lil uzi vert, bricks, octavia butler, jim shepard, JG ballard, jane dickson, survival research labs, dee dee ramone, terry funk, chris martin, aj foyt, bo diddley, young thug, the mona lisa, charlie ahern and rigobito torres, archie shepp, the indianapolis speedrome, metta world peace, cookie mueller, v. vale, ralph fansanella, skaiwater, my brother, my dad, and my mom.

Is there a moment you look back on as being formative to the work you do?

A few years ago I had the great fortune of seeing Martin Wong’s retrospective show “Malicious Mischief” in London. Seeing all that work in person, seeing that life he lived, really raised the standard for me. Before that I knew of Martin Wong but never equated it to what I was doing. At that show I really felt a deep feeling of understanding. I have a vivid memory of being in the gallery thinking “wow he was doing what I am trying to do.” Not in every way, but I just saw his work and felt we saw the world the same way. I can’t honestly explain or articulate it well so much as it was an overwhelming feeling. In 2024, I had a solo show at Blade Study in the LES that coincidentally opened on his birthday and closed on his death date. I feel a cosmic connection to him and his work, whether that shows in anything more than the way I shade bricks I’ll never know.

How were you introduced to the mediums that you work with?

I’ve made art my whole life. I used to do oil painting and was doing a lot of photorealistic work. I couldn’t handle the pressure of it, I was obsessed with perfection and really wasn’t painting from the heart. I took a long break from painting and experimented with all sorts of other mediums; collage, audio works, poetry, etc. About 6 years ago, I felt an extreme urge to paint but knew I couldn’t go back to oil. I got a starter acrylic set and some canvas postcards. The rest is history as they say! I love the freedom of the quick drying times. There’s something about it that just feels like it has the ability to keep up with my thoughts. I like the feeling of making the mark and learning to live with it.

What’s your studio or workspace like? (Please include a photo if you are open to sharing.) Do you have any rituals when you settle in there?

My studio is a small room at home that requires a lot of Tetris. The lack of space restricts what I can do sometimes, but I’ve found myself drawn to the limitation. I think restrictions can spawn creativity better than almost anything and I find joy in experimenting with what is possible in that space. There’s also the convenience of having it be 15 feet from my bed. Sometimes I’ll paint for 10 minutes before work, sometimes I’ll paint until 3 am and crawl into bed immediately after; it’s just so comfortable. For me, my relationship with my studio is just as important as making art. It’s fun to have a room that feels like my brain’s outer shell. My studio is usually decorated floor to ceiling with some arrangement of xeroxed clippings, found images and little collectables. What’s on the walls is always in flux with my work.

What kind of imagery are you drawn to?

I like things that are chaotic and surprising in a feel-good way. I like things that look abstract while also being deeply formed into our rigid society. I’ve painted lots of race cars, clusters of buildings, or huge crowds of people. Their common thread is that they all have this very recognizable image, but built together of small, and occasionally random pieces. Made up of bricks, faces, or sponsor stickers crushed and licked by flames, they all have this contradiction of extreme recognition and extreme abstraction. I love when things are complicated in their simplicity.

When needed, where do you look for inspiration? Have/how have these sources changed over time?

I just go outside if I’m out of ideas. As strong as my imagination is, there’s always something outside light years ahead of me. I look up, I look down, I take a lot of pictures on my phone. I am a simple man! I like to think that’s always been my approach to finding inspiration. I think the world can be a hard place to make beautiful and I try to make work that shows my gratitude to all the hard work that goes into the beauty around us. If you’re ever stuck just ride the bus without headphones on and your brain just kinda starts working again.

Does humor play a role in your work?

Of course! I think laughing and making people laugh is the greatest feeling in the world. Humor is a great way of subverting an image or situation and pulling something into a new context. Sometimes you can make someone laugh at something really crude and uncomfortable, and sometimes you make them laugh with something so simple and wholesome. Either way it brings out something inside of them and puts it into your work. One of my absolute favorite books I always go back to is RE/Search mag #11/ Pranks! It’s a book built on sharing the methods and history of using humor and pranks in art and society. Author V.Vale states “Pranks are the deadly enemy of reality. And “reality” —its description and limitation—has always been the supreme control trick used by a society to subdue the lust for freedom latent in its citizens.” I’ve always found that to be great reasoning for having a laugh with my work.

What draws you to the large congregations of people that your work sometimes features?

I’ve always loved a big crowd, a huge collective feeling. From childhood until tomorrow, big crowd moments have always been a huge part of my life. I love basketball games, wrestling shows, racing, monster trucks, summer concerts in the park, any kind of arena. I think there’s a beautiful indescribable feeling of witnessing something with a mass of people. My favorite event in the world is the Indianapolis 500, the largest single day sporting event in the world. Over 300,000 people attend it and the cars go 250mph. You look a mile and a half in the distance and you see another grandstand. It’s a surreal experience. The hundreds of thousands of people surrounding you validate its reality with their own shock and excitement. Seeing tens of thousands of people jump up and yell in joy, or gasp, or boo and hiss in a collective unspoken unison is so powerful. Crowds, or fans rather, exist in this incredible space where the lines between discomfort and anxiousness blend seamlessly with comfort and collective joy. When I paint crowds, I don’t suggest the number of people. I draw every person with eyes looking on, mouths smiling or frowning, and if the scale isn’t too small I’ll even give them eyebrows and noses. I think it gives my crowd paintings an endless multitude of energy and emotion.

There are many devils in the details of your work that reward the viewer’s close attention. Is there an underlying philosophy that guides this in your work?

I like to imagine if you look at all my paintings long enough you could know everything about me. I think I’m generally a pretty shy person, but when I’m painting I feel comfortable sharing anything and I try to capitalize on that confidence the best I can. I think of an artist who treats the viewer like a friend, sometimes I yell in their face and sometimes I whisper in their ear.

Can you share a memory of someone interacting with your work that lingers with you?

My Mom was at a show I was having and said something to the extent of “no one else here realizes you’ve been making stuff like this your whole life.” That was a really special moment for me. I think all artists desire to be true to their deepest selves and who else knows you better than your mom? I found it validating and extremely flattering.

How does your creative community now compare to your creative community when you were younger?

My creative community has always included a lot of people who make fanzines. It takes a creative, fanatical, and honest person to make a great fanzine. We lost two real legends of the community this past year, Matty D’angelo and Rich Jacobs. They’ve always been in my work and they always will be.

Are there any travel experiences that are formative to your work or to you as an individual?

A few years ago I went to Paris for the first time and saw the Mona Lisa. I became absolutely obsessed with both the Louvre and the Mona Lisa after visiting. I absolutely love the excitement, and fandom, and chaos that absolutely explodes in the room. I feel like you can say with certainty that Mona Lisa is the most recognized artwork ever, and people’s unexplained obsession of her dates back well before today’s selfies. Napoleon loved the painting so much he married a distant relative of hers. It’s powerful in a really unexplainable and ridiculous way that I just absolutely adore. It impacted my opinion on art and travel greatly. I made two paintings of this experience: Mona Lisa, painted from the perspective of Jesus in Paolo Veronese’s The Wedding Feast of Cana; and pov u got a smile like mona lisa, from the pov of Mona Lisa’s eyes. I love the joyful chaos that surrounds her.

How do you manage tending to the variety of responsibilities in the work you do? How do you mitigate burnout or exhaustion?

I never get tired of painting. If I’m not having fun, I try something else. If something in my life has me down, paintings always kept me up.

What do you collect?

45s, original photos of racing crashes, topps 2001 gold label finals piece cards of indiana pacers, hats, paper clippings, promotional candy, metallic star stickers, figurines that look like my dog, diecast cars, survival research labs flyers, aj foyt hat pins, yoko ono editions, really big art books, really small sci fi books, BRICKS, art made by my friends, fanzines, anything with james brown on it, funkadelic t shirts, pictures on the internet, pictures on my phone, indianapolis speedrome memorabilia, anti nazi patches, playing cards, promotional candy packages, ephemera from abdulah the butchers house of ribs and chinese food, anything from the east side of indianapolis, live bootleg cassette tapes, lil guys cut out of wood and hand painted, bo diddley records, satin music jackets, model race cars, stuff i wanted when i was a kid even though I don’t really need it as an adult, tattoos, alton ellis records, indy 500 ashtrays, really anything and everything I need to stop !!!!

Interview conducted by Luca Lotruglio and edited by Paul Fitzpatrick