Meet Emily Kilma, one of the Art Studio NY’s first students.

Emily began her studies at TASNY in Fall of 2007, when Rebecca was still teaching out of her apartment’s living room. In college, Emily was formally trained in drawing, painting landscapes, still lives and nudes. Emily went from working as an art director for various fashion publications to becoming a stay-at-home mom and a freelance graphic designer. After her very long hiatus from art, she was ready to try her hand at abstract and mixed-media painting. A quick google search introduced her to Rebecca’s studio, thus beginning her relationship with TASNY. 

“My experience was amazing! I felt so welcome and understood and free to create. It was the coziest, tight knit group of people with Rebecca as teacher, friend, healer and magic maker.”

When asked how her art classes at TASNY have impacted her, Emily says;

“I gained so much validation and peace with art making at Rebecca’s. I found my unique expression and haven’t stopped since”.

Now that 13 years have passed since Emily began her lessons with TASNY, Emily has created a wonderful body of work! She is taking commissions and gearing up for some exhibitions. The pandemic was a sudden shift that impacted us all. Like any change, there are sacrifices to be made. Emily shares the hardest part of the pandemic for her was socially distancing from her family and friends. She also shares that it was difficult for her to feel safe in public. Not to mention, it was an exercise in patience waiting for her art supplies to arrive! But with the negative comes the positive; 

“The pandemic has set my art practice on fire in a good way! I had been working full-time and missing my art so much-it was missing me too! I got laid off and immediately got to work painting and creating again in my studio.”

Emily’s art practice began as a way to create art so she could decorate her apartment–but it has turned into something so much greater. Through her art, she found her authentic self. She uses her art as a way to freely express herself and share it with so many.

 “I love that I can make people feel something when they look at my art-that it resonates some place deeply and mysteriously inside themselves.”

Emily admires artists like Helen Frankenthauler, Gerhard Richter, Richard Diebenkorn, Elizabeth Peyton, Cecily Brown… and of course, Rebecca! When describing her experience with TASNY, Emily says, “I felt like I had arrived easily and soulfully into the fold. I made awful art and then okay art and then ‘my art’- it was incredible. I grew and became the artist that I am today-largely due to the freedom and divine teaching of Rebecca”.

Emily says art has transformed her life in an indescribable way. It has helped her to do what she loves and love what she’s doing. 

“recover” by Emily Kilma 30″ x 30″ mixed-media and collage on canvas

“beloved” by Emily Kilma 30″ x 40″ mixed media, collage, ink, and pastel on wood panel

To view more of Emily’s art, please check out her website Emily Klima (emk-art.com)

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