Emily Gherard works with paper, wood, and plaster to make monochromatic drawings and wall sculptures of geometric forms that are stand-ins for the human figure. She derives the shapes in her work by simplifying the gestures and postures of historical figurative paintings, focusing on mother-and-child imagery.
Gherard earned her B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design and a M.F.A. from the University of Washington. She received the 2021-2025 Joan Mitchell Fellowship, a PONCHO Special Recognition Award from the Seattle Art Museum, and a GAP Grant from Art Trust.
At MacDowell, she developed a series of large, shaped collagraphs as part of an ongoing series in response to the work of 20th-century German printmaker Kathe Kollwitz.
