The figure is a prominent part of my work. I am drawn to the incidental, beautiful shapes the human body creates, and I have studied nonverbal communication to better understand how we use our bodies to convey specific ideas. My most recent work draws on my experiences as a religious person coming to terms with homosexuality. When I was younger, I belonged to a church that taught me that homosexuality was wrong and should be changed. I underwent so called “gender-affirmative” therapy to try to become straight. I use the suit as a symbol in my work of this inner turmoil. It is the suit I wore as a Mormon missionary. It is the suit of religious leadership. It is the suit of corporation. I wanted the figures in the suit to convey confusion, shame, and internal battle. I was influenced by stained glass windows, early Mormon art, and by the woodcuts of the civil rights movement. When I determined that the therapy was not actually changing my sexual orientation, and when I met other gay people who helped me to see that I could be happy as a gay person, I accepted myself for who I was. I changed the way I was living my life, ultimately finding and marrying my husband. The tuxedos from our wedding became the symbol of this new life. I wanted the men in tuxedos to exude a sense of confidence, happiness, and liberation. They are at peace with themselves and with their decisions. Unlike the contorted suited figures that are confined by the borders of the paper, the men in tuxedos stand straight with shoulders back. They are not bound by the confines of the composition. I am also influenced by illustrations from the 1920’s, which glamorized new cultural freedoms. Many of the posters and magazine ads from the twenties celebrate the end of war and the rise of a new era. In a similar way, my newest work reflects the transition into a new time in my life.
.
DANIEL EMBREE creates paintings and original prints of dramatic figures and personal symbols. Based in the greater Boston area, he has exhibited work in the Fitchburg Museum of Art in Fitchburg, MA, the Springville Museum of Art in Springville UT, and in numerous galleries in Utah, the Midwest, and Massachusetts, including 13 Forest Gallery in Arlington, MA and the Zullo Gallery and Center for the Arts in Medfield, MA. Embree grew up outside Chicago, and spent several years in Los Angeles and Utah where he ultimately earned his BFA from Brigham Young University in 2009. In 2010 Daniel Embree spent some time at the Vermont Studio Center creating his newest body of work. He now lives with his husband in Newton, Massachusetts.