About

Emily Burgess is best known for her monochromatic mixed media drawings and black and white photographs. Growing up in Fort Worth, TX, she aimed to express her creative personality through many art forms such as music, art classes, writing, dance and musical theater.

Emily entered high school yearning to see the world around her through true and honest eyes. Her sophomore year, she was encouraged to study AP Art. During this time, she was introduced to her first "big girl" camera which she used to create a series of photographs that would later be reviewed at the Texas AP Art Placement. After that, her AP Art teacher invited her to serve on the school's Yearbook Staff the following year. 

Emily graduated with her BFA, with a focus in painting, from the University of Oklahoma. From there, she desired to continue to learn more about art and teach at a higher level, and decided to pursue her MFA at Houston Baptist University. She began to aid and study under nationally acclaimed artists Dixie Friend Gay and Michael Roque Collins.

Starting graduate school as a painter, Emily was thirsty to step away from oil paints and representational art. In her second and final year of graduate school, Emily completely changed her body of work, representing various forms of media and returning to her photographic roots. She had always seen the world in its brightest and darkest nature through the eye of a camera lens and was eager to dive into that concept. Emily ended her graduate work with a thesis engulfed in a series of abstract, monochromatic works that stemmed from those photographs. She continues to play with the concept of light versus dark.