Meet Emily Núñez: The Artist Sparking Conversation on the Queens Campus
Article by Astrid Bridgwood; supported by an interview facilitated by Emma Henry and Madison Webster.
Thank you to Emily Núñez for participating in the interview which facilitated this article, and thank you to Gallery Assistants Emma Henry (2023) , Madison Webster (2023), and Astrid Bridgwood (2024) for their work in question ideation and interviewing.
Artist Emily Núñez is a Charlotte native whose life-long involvement in the vibrant arts and culture scene of the Queen City speaks to the growth of Charlotte not just as an urban environment, but as a community. Núñez began her arts education in part at notable Charlotte arts nonprofit Arts+, where she was a student participant in Studio 345: a free extracurricular youth development program for Charlotte-Mecklenburg high school students that focuses on creative practices. After completing her Bachelor's in Fine Arts from Appalachian State University in 2020, she returned to Charlotte to establish herself as a practicing artist, and to give back to her community. Now, in combination with her artmaking, she serves as an educator for Studio 345. This act of mentorship parallels her collaboration with Project Protégé, a program she discovered through the McColl Center, and which serves to nurture the “next generation of creative change-makers in Charlotte,” as they create a body of work and foster connections with both mentors and community artists. Núñez hopes to impart to her students the knowledge that “...you can really go into the arts and be successful,” she says.
Núñez, primarily a multimedia artist, personally noted her need for space in creating work, which led her to that partnership with the McColl Center. This involvement speaks to the importance of community and identity in her work, teaming up with Charlotte is Creative to support this micro-residency which has led to her current renting of the studio space to this day. She notes the importance of community in the Center, which led her to retain a studio in the space. “Getting to know the different artists that were there, I was able to be involved in more projects, one which was Project Protégé. I met other artists in Charlotte, who were more established and learned new skills,” Núñez says, which resulted in her abilty to put up a physical show—an opportunity initially she missed in college because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, Núñez is expanding her multi-media repertoire into murals as she participates in the “Picasso Landscapes: Out of Bounds,” exhibit, an assemblage of some of Picasso’s greatest landscape compositions in one traveling exhibition currently visiting the Mint Museum Uptown until May 21st, 2023. Notably unique about this exhibition, however, is the efforts made to extend the exhibition beyond the walls of the museum into the Charlotte community at large through the creation of murals places throughout Charlotte, by Charlotte artists, serving to re-interpret the techniques and themes displayed in Picasso’s iconic cubist landscapes.Queens students in the Art History and Arts Leadership & Administration majors have been invited to docent the exhibition, supported by a “Museum Practicum,” course for academic credit, while Queens professor Mike Wirth is also involved in the creation of his own mural at Camp North End. Núñez herself was tapped specifically by a friend to participate in the project at its beginning.
The Queens campus is lucky enough to see Emily Núñez acting in the spirit of community and collaboration as she works on a Picasso-inspired mural depicting the ever-changing Charlotte landscape, further extending the exhibit’s reach. “This mural what I see Charlotte as now,” Núñez says. “I started off this mural thinking ‘how can I bring in Picasso with elements of where I’ve lived my whole life?’” Inspired by Picasso’s use of motifs and highly gestural marks, Núñez sought to recreate these elements while sending a message of Charlotte’s growth. “There's always something going up... there's buildings here, rooms there. Whenever I was growing up, there wasn't a lot of that. There was the main Uptown area, but now there’s big buildings everywhere.” Instead of remaining entrenched in the past of Charlotte, she hopes to draw from her memories to depict the roots of Charlotte becoming while remaining cognizant of the city’s rapid growth. “Most of my work is based on the memories that I have growing up, whether it be with my family and my culture from the Dominican Republic or just being here, living in Charlotte. This city and my work are constantly evolving, constantly growing.”
Emily Núñez found inspiration in several pieces displayed in the exhibition, all of which depicted rain, specifically drawing from two pieces: “Boisgeloup in the Rain with Rainbow,” and “Boisgeloup in the Rain,” both from 1932. “I saw the many lines passing through the whole building he painted, and I wanted to see something similar to that. It made me think, ‘how can I use these geometric shapes and show that movement?’” she says. Upon the mural’s completion, viewers will notice dramatic stripes going through the landscape Núñez paints as she seeks to show light. “I think Charlotte is a really big, bright city, so I use that influence with what elements I can bring in which may be more linear and geometric. A lot of my work is not usually (in this style),” she says. “I do a lot of portraits and animals in my regular work, so this is a bit different, but it does relate to me thinking of how I grew up.” This personal theme is a throughline in much of her work, which typically explores her Dominican cultural background. Núñez noted that her heritage has influenced her interpretation of the exhibition, as well. “There are so, so many different views of how you can interpret work that reflects a little bit of you; like being a Latina, how I would interpret Picasso's work,” she says.
This mural is a strong deviation from what Núñez is typically known for. As a multimedia artist, she has a unique approach to the project, which is her biggest mural. Instead of creating a typical grid to translate her reference image to the wall, she uses the grid already created by the bricks she is painting over. “I spent a whole afternoon counting,” she says. She cites the height of the mural as another challenge, calling it “a little more nerve wracking.” “It's just a really big learning curve because I haven't done anything quite like this,” Núñez says. But, much like her other work, she hopes the mural will create conversation and connection on campus. “As I’ve been working, a lot of people come and talk, ask me ‘what is this about,’ and what I’m doing. I hope that people have a conversation about Charlotte is, and those who are native to Charlotte.”
This hope for conversation serves to extend Núñez’s artistic philosophy of art as a unifying force, fostering community on the Queens campus as students unite to explore Picasso’s landscapes and question the ever-changing landscape of the city they have begun to call home. As the mural is completed, it will become an element of the campus which will speak not just to artistic tradition and the notoriety of Picasso, but to the story of a Charlotte artist and her life in the city. “My work creates an environment for people to come in and feel something new, or feel at home,” Núñez says. Queens students are already drawn to the mural as a point of discussion, observing Núñez as she works and asking questions about the image as it emerges before them, proving to be a successful extension of the Charlotte arts community to our campus even in its infancy.
Above: Progress Images of Mural, taken by Gallery Assistants Emma Henry (2023), Madison Webster (2023), and Astrid Bridgwood (2024). Find a timelapse of the mural posted by Núñez on her Instagram (@brik.art, linked in first paragraph).
Astrid Bridgwood is a student of Art History, Philosophy, and Arts Leadership & Administration currently serving as a Gallery Assistant for the Department of Art, Design, and Music, with ongoing projects focusing on liberal arts education at Black Mountain College. In her free time, she writes and publishes poetry (read more here) and hopes to pursue a career as a Professor of Art History.