Emily Nomer

Take a colorful, kaleidoscopic mosaic and meld it into a geometric abstract. Result: a playful, seductive flight of fancy by my featured artist Emily Nomer!

An entrepreneur for over 40 years who runs her own one-of-a-kind home furnishings business,  http://www.manzanaresfurniture.com and works with some of the most notable architects and designers in the world, she creates and designs all day for others.

But on her own time, in a light-filled studio on the grounds of her 18th C. farmhouse in New York’s Hudson Valley, she immerses herself in her own painted world where color, pattern, and illusion rule.  With spoiled cat Mimi by her side, she creates her fabulously chaotic works.  “They are actually quite orderly,” she says.  “They have their own logic.”

Her inspirations are diverse. Crazy quilts; Medieval stained glass; Japanese boro cloth; toys and games; magic. While her art is very much her own, she feels artistic kinship with the Pattern & Decoration movement, the Bauhaus and Russian Constructivists.  

Her work has been featured in the windows of Tiffany & Co.’s Fifth Avenue flagship store, commissioned by SONY USA for a product promotion, and turned into a textile by a major design company.  

Check out Emily's website at http://etnomer.com/index.php

Lately she has been showing at local galleries in the Hudson Valley.  Her latest will be at the QueenCity15 Gallery in Poughkeepsie NY,  a group show entitled Women, featuring works by and about women*.  Her pieces, “Doing the Mending”, were inspired by Maya Angelou’s poem Woman Work - a befitting homage from a very busy working woman. 

White Squares (1 & 2).  20 x 20” gesso on board.

White Squares, designed to work as a pair or separately, appear deceptively ‘minimal' at first glance.  But it is a complex simplicity, a thoughtful construction of balance, proportion and texture.  They are the quiet voice in a room, but a powerful one.Their message: Step back, press ‘pause’ . What do you see?

 

We wanted to have a fun question and answer session with our guest so here goes!

(1.) Where were you born/raised and how did you get excited about our world of art? 

I have been an art-o-holic for my entire life.  As a child my favorite activity was drawing with my 96-box of Crayolas.  I used to sit behind a chair in my grandparent's house and leaf through art books.  I grew up mostly in NYC, with a few years in Dallas, TX; Poughkeepsie NY for college; and many years in London, where I studied Classical Greek and Latin and worked in an advertising agency.  Since I had never gone to art school, I felt “incomplete", so a few years ago I enrolled in an MFA program at SUNY New Paltz, near where I live in the Hudson Valley.  I was about twice the age of most of the students, but it was the best thing I’d done in years.  Lesson: you are never too old to pursue your passion.  

(2.) If you weren’t an artist/business owner/entrepreneur where would your interests have taken you?  

I think I would be a cat-lady.  Maybe a jewelry-designing cat-lady.

(3). We first met in 1984 at the incredible world of Donghia Inc., where you were Vice President of the company and everything!  What is one of your best memories of Angelo? 

I joined Donghia in 1983 and Angelo supported my accidental career from the start. I think it was because I could string a sentence together and have it make sense.  I remained close with his mother until her death.

(4). We all have been cooped up too much during this pandemic, so what have you been binge watching?? 

Right now, I am watching Indian Matchmaking, a documentary about a matchmaker and arranged marriages.  If I weren’t happily married, and if I were Indian, I would definitely sign up.

(5). What’s a must have in your fridge? 

Camberzola –  the cheese love-child of Camembert and Gorgonzola.  I think I need an intervention.

(6). Favorite cocktail/drink of choice?  

I have no standards and drink cheap ‘plonk’. (cheap white wine the English call it!!)  My daughter is embarrassed and ashamed for me. 

(7). First car?

 A 1985 300D Turbo Mercedes.  It was 15 and and I was 45.  

(8). Favorite concert?  

Don’t remember, we were all stoned out of our minds.  But I’ve been faithful to the Grateful Dead since I was 15.

(9). If you were to host a gathering of your favorite friends/ designers you admire, what would you serve and how would you host it?   

I am a-social and parties are my idea of hell. 

(10). If you could escape and travel now (no holds barred) where would you go?

 Namibia:  bleak, empty, and has elephants.  What could be more perfect?