Emmett Donlon

Emmett Donlon (b. 1997) lives and works in Manchester, New Hampshire. Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Concord, New Hampshire, he returned to PA to study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he got his BFA in Studio Art, concentrating in Painting and Sculpture. His work mostly explores the intersections of personal and shared histories, gathering references from pop culture, historical archives, and personal collections. The absurdity of life and death often consumes his time.

Emmett’s work was featured in ‘Threads,’ on view July 13-28, 2024.

Using traditional techniques and motifs, these hand spun and knit works blend the line between craft and art. Seen historically as ‘woman’s work,’ spinning and knitting are time and labor intensive work that has often been overlooked, but have survived by being taught and passed down through generations. Nearly 20 years ago, my second grade teacher and grandmothers taught me how to knit. These works serve as testaments to a living history, as well as meditations on work. The phrases knit become mantras that develop different and deeper meanings as the hours of spinning and knitting turn into days, and the days into weeks.

Emmett’s work was featured in ‘All Together Now,’ on view February 11-26, 2023.

The subjects of Emmett’s portraits, such as ‘Ella Fitzgerald,’ are of people that interest him and are seen in his eye’s as icons of select moments of history that have inadvertently affected the artist’s life.