About the Artist
Emily Webster is an Indianapolis-based artist working primarily in glass and mixed media. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ball State University, where she concentrated in glass. Her practice expands beyond traditional glasswork to incorporate light, video projection, and found objects, creating sculptural works that explore perception and visual experience.
While at Ball State, Webster developed a body of work centered on the evolving and deteriorating nature of her vision. She is drawn to optical illusions and altered visual states, using them to challenge how viewers see and interpret their surroundings. Her BFA thesis exhibition, Wandering Eye, examined her personal relationship with sight and the ways in which she perceives the world.
After graduating, Webster continued her professional career at an Indianapolis-based glass studio, working as the Studio manager, instructor, and design team member. There, she contributed to large-scale commercial and residential art glass projects while further refining her technical skills and collaborative practice.
Currently, Emily is working at her alma mater as the Glass Facilities Technician, running the entire studio, working with students, and engaging in all that working in higher ed has to offer.
A BFA THESIS EXHIBITION
WANDERInG EYE
BFA Artist Statement
My studio practice involves a multi-disciplinary approach to sculptural glass, installation and video art. The different media utilized in my work provide a threshold for my work to discuss distinctions between my own personal perception and the perceptions of others. In this body of work, I am exploring topics around the human eye and the use of perception, deriving from my personal experiences with poor vision.
Not only did my eyesight effect my personal health but I spent a lot of time once I became an artist, wondering how my vision separated me from my peers. Did the work I was making look differently to people with near perfect vision? I knew that I would never actually be able to see the way that others do, and it fascinated me. Continuing to learn from this infatuation with vision, I worked to create a cohesive exhibition show to start a conversation about vision and vision loss.
My senior exhibition show will explore my own personal vision, and how I can influence the viewer to have a new visual experience similar to mine. My show uses the medium of glass, that I have manipulated to degrade or deteriorate video projections of my own eye. I have often taken my inspiration from these personal experiences and living with this affliction. I hope that my senior show gives inspiration to my viewers and peers to think about how vision and perception influence everyday life, and how people perceive the world differently.