Emilie Halpern

Emilie's father is an immunologist at Stanford University She originally had an interest in science, but turned to art. Her maternal grandfather Takanori Oguiss was a painter and has his own museum.[3] Her paternal grandfather was Russian and exiled to Siberia in the czar's anti-semitic purges.[4] In addition to her art, Emilie teaches a fourth grade class in art.[3]

Emilie's work “Drown” is a haunting piece where once a day, 4 liters of ocean water are poured onto a concrete floor and allowed to evaporate. 4 liters is the volume that fills a person's lungs.[2][5]

Emilie's work “Shōka” is an ikebana style installation in three parts. The first part, 地 (pronounced chi, translated as "earth") is an installation of phosphorescent rocks with a minimalist layout. During the day the rocks are nondescript. At night, the rocks are illuminated with a black light so they glow. The second part called 天 (pronounced ten, translated as "heaven") shows the areas of the gallery walls illuminated by the sun covered in gold foil. The third part called 人 (pronounced jin, translated as "human") are series of glazed ceramics white with blue shading hanging from the ceiling and arranged on a long block of wood. Maxwell Williams of KCET described these installations as without theatrics, but leaving “a long lasting residue in the viewers mind”[3][6]

• Robert Smithson