Emily Su is a Chinese American artist working in cross medium projects that often involves painting, photography, and installations. Her practice merges playful distortions of pop surrealism with personal exploration of memory, identity, imagination and the space of spirituality. A central thread in Emily’s work explores the world of childhood trauma and coping strategies that children often invent—imaginary friends. These coping mechanisms are expressed in fantastical manner conjoining the playfulness of youth innocence and the painful reality of abuse. Redefining how a child might survive through childhood violence through a surreal logic. In contrast, her other body of work explores growth, family, and identity. The pieces tell a story of growth and love, tunnel visioning on only the optimism of life. Across these themes, Su’s work creates spaces of in-betweenness—where humor is used as survival, and where trauma is met with imaginative transformation, and where cultural memory overlaps with personal growth. Whether in an otherworldly space or an immersive installation, their art invites viewers to step into shifting rooms of the self, encountering both the shadows and the fragile wonders of childhood and growth.
