Reflections

Project in Process, 2021-Present

In my ongoing series of paintings, I explore themes of time, perception, and duality through the liminal space found in reflections in windows. Through the application of oil paint using palette knives, I construct imagery that balances clarity and fragmentation. My work is grounded in direct observation yet intentionally altered to blur the line between truth and interpretation. Drawing from an autoethnographic methodology, I infuse my work with lived experience and the complexities that stem from the various masks we wear. Reflections create a duality—inside versus outside, visible versus concealed, light versus dark. Reflection is itself a layered concept: one definition speaks to the physical act of light bouncing back an image, while another refers to deep contemplation. My compositions engage both meanings, using reflections to explore how the face we present to the world can mask interior depths only glimpsed by others. These ambiguous spaces tell personal stories that blend the individual with their environment. This process highlights painting’s enduring relevance as a tool for understanding identity and fostering dialogue.

Having lived in vastly different places—Michigan, Hawaii, and Vancouver—I am keenly aware of how location shapes perception and the impact that it has on an individual. These experiences sharpened my sensitivity to subtle details that may often be overlooked. Through this lens, I critique systems that erase complexity and reclaim agency over representation. This body of work resists the hyper-visibility and disembodiment of digital self-representation, instead fostering a more intimate engagement with identity and place. The fragmented nature of reflections allows me to merge past and present, creating images that shift between memory, nostalgia, and immediate experience. Overlapping imagery and the disorientation of hybridity result in multiple interpretations, where mundane moments, when juxtaposed with their surroundings, take on surreal, layered, and unexpected qualities. My work requires a slowness in looking—challenging the culture of immediacy and inviting deeper engagement.

As reflections are inherently transient, transmediation into paint allows me to suspend fleeting moments in time. This transformation turns ephemeral glimpses into something fixed yet open to shifting perceptions. Multiple truths emerge depending on the viewer’s background and what they perceive in the complexity in the images, much like the human experience. Reflections resist oversimplified narratives, particularly for women navigating societal expectations. In a world that often demands a singular, digestible identity, my work embraces complexity. It invites viewers to engage in slow looking, uncovering layers of meaning that evolve based on their own lived experiences. Through this process, I aim to create a visual dialogue that lingers beyond the initial encounter, sparking curiosity and contemplation about the self and the spaces we inhabit.

EMILIE FANTUZ

EMILIE FANTUZ