“The spontaneous decision to pick a flower from the dirt has a resemblance to my art practice. Its life and growth in your hands.” Chandran Gallery in San Francisco is pleased to present, I Have Considered the Lilies, a solo show of new works by Western Massachusetts-based painter, Emma Kohlmann. I Have Considered the Lilies will be the artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. Working primarily in watercolor with an expansive visual language that stretches to zines, publishing, ceramics, sculpture and installation, Kohlmann’s process is a constant exercise of making. Characters, shapes and figures flow from one medium to the next, flowing narratives across an exhibition that feels like the stream of consciousness of an artist in constant creative motion. 


Solemn blueness 2020 watercolor on paper 30 by 44

In her most recent work, Kohlmann has been exploring the concept of floral mythologies and how it applies to the even the most simple of drawing or brushstroke work. Much in the way her work surrounds a gallery, organically shifting aesthetically similar characteristics around to each medium, the idea of the garden and an egalitarian of creation begins to emerge. Each work gets equal attention, and the constant and consistent outpouring of art is about the idea of growth. A show begins and ideas and works sprout, assembled and planted like a garden around a gallery. Much of Kohlmann’s work is about the unintentional symmetry of growth, and what she refers to as a practice that is “equalizing and ambiguous.”

Chandran EmmaKohlmann04

Egalitarianism as a concept is the perfect metaphor for I Have Considered the Lilies, the idea of an equal attention to each work in the exhibition no matter the format. From large-scale watercolor paintings to sculptural mobiles, drawings to ceramics, each creation works in cooperation with the whole of the show.  I try to work in bulk,” Kohlmann has said in past interviews. “I try to make as many different variations of the same thing. The intuition part comes in because I trust my hand. And if it doesn’t work I have to try it again.”

In conjunction with her solo show, Kohlmann created a series of collectibles that are an organic extension of her fine art work. From ceramic plates, tea towels, silk scarf and silk print edition,  the collection will be sold exclusively through the gallery’s shop and in-person at the exhibition space in San Francisco.