Press "Enter" to skip to content

Student Spends Semester Abroad in Italy

By Myles Goldman
Arts & Entertainment Assistant Editor

Emily Halper, a junior art education major from Commack, NY is currently spending a semester in Florence, Italy and will be returning in December after departing on Aug. 31. “There’s so much inspiration,” Halper said. She found inspiration in pieces of art at the Uffizi art gallery that most people only see in textbooks. She believes her work to be constantly improving as she spends time abroad, “I think every time I lift a pen or paintbrush I’m learning because it’s really all practice,” she said.

Photo Courtesy of Emily Halper

Halper has been learning silk screening and printmaking, processes that deviate from her usual style of work of sketching and painting. Halper is studying at the Florence School of Fine Arts with an intimate class of only eight students. Her favorite piece of her most recent works is a relatively large oil painting of drapery. “I honestly can’t believe I did it. It’s almost three feet by four feet,” Halper said, “It was only my second attempt at oil painting.” The piece took 30 hours to complete.

“With millennials, there’s a lot more contemporary art,” Halper said, “Regarding contemporary art, many people have a ‘been there, done that’ sort of way of thinking because there is always an issue of originality, and with contemporary art, we try to break this barrier of normality.”

For more of Halper’s work, visit www.emilyhalper.com.

 

 

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *