Emelina M. Holland

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Artist Statement

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My artistic practice is both somatic and spiritual. 

I create art to communicate my perceptions, my inner world, and the sensations I experience due to my biological composition.  As a synesthete (multi-sensory) and multiethnic person, I have an innate drive to synthesize elements and techniques within my work.  In my world, images evoke sounds, music births poetry, touch inspires stories, taste invokes movement, and scent takes me into a colorful ride. 

So over time, and as a result, my creative work has reshaped me, and it has transformed my being in multi-dimensional ways. This organic process I have been living has manifested me into a single type of individual whose ethnic and cultural roots are now woven into my own unique mix of original heritages. 

The themes in my art pieces are a reflection of my synesthetic perceptions as a woman and as a mother within my unique multi-layered and single lens.  At the same time, my themes and techniques are also braided into my mystical poetry.  

I see my fine art pieces and folk-art creations as physical poetic metaphors. 

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About the Artist

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Emelina M. Holland (also known as Emelina M. Figueroa Symonds) is an experimental artist with a passion for interdisciplinary studies and integrative practices.  Born in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, but she calls Arizona her home. She is a "mestiza," a multiethnic person: Cornish Celtic, Iberian Celt & Southern Iberian, American indigenous-4 types, Maltese, and East African. As a synesthete with various expressions of synesthesia, Emelina is a multi-sensory person who draws artistic inspiration from her synesthetic perceptions of the world within her and around her, in the various cultural contexts she navigates at this present time.  Most of her art, songs, and poetry are expressions of her personal experiences as a woman and as a mother.

Emelina graduated from Yavapai College with an Associate of Fine Arts and Foreign Languages.  Her concentration was mixed media acrylic painting, non-toxic printmaking techniques, and ceramic clay sculpting.   She got several awards and recognitions from galleries, art programs, and art organizations that also gave her grants.  She also got scholarships from the Arizona-Sonora Commission, Mountain Artists Guild, and Arizona Artists Guild.  She was awarded Academic, Art, and other types of scholarships from Yavapai College.

Her work has been displayed in galleries in Prescott and in Phoenix, AZ.  She has been involved in art fairs and shows locally and in nearby communities.  In 2008 and 2009, she participated in the Arizona Fine Art Expo in Scottsdale, AZ.  Around that time, she also taught creative workshops via mixed media exploration and experimentation at Art Unraveled, Phoenix, AZ, The Adult Center of Prescott, Prescott, AZ, Payson Arts Center in Payson, AZ, and she did live TV presentations at the AM Arizona show with Tonya Mock, in the mid-late 2000s.

Later on, Emelina became an Admission Representative for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online Division.  A few years after she became a mom, she returned to the Prescott Valley area, where she now resides.  As a mom, she has continued her work from home and promotes it online.

Her most recent collaborations have been with the Up-cycled Cloth Collective-Online International group.  Emelina's current focus has been on the upcycling of textiles for community engagement, health, sustainability and environmental awareness, cultural transformation and art making.  She uses upcycled fabrics and other recycled materials for her mixed media art, folk arts, and crafts.  She also uses recycled paper and cotton fabrics for papermaking.

Emelina is interested in how biodiversity shapes spirituality through artistic expression, and how this process turns into an integrated form of spirituality that addresses the interconnection of life.  She enjoys exploring and navigating the woven thread between art, poetry, grounded magic and mystic symbolism. As an experimental artist, she is covering several media such as:

Mixed-media painting, handmade paper, printmaking, clay sculpting, and book arts.

The themes of her paintings and other works cover a broad range. Her style is a mix of Magical Realism and Abstract. Most of her artworks and folk-art creations are woven into her mystical poetry.

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