Meet Emily Marchand | Artist and Community Organizer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Emily Marchand and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
One of my favorite quotes is on an architectural facade at the state capitol in Sacramento, it reads “Into the highlands of the mind, let me go.” I like to keep this quote as a reminder to untether from the gravity of the world and let myself creatively seek out ways to process and make art.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Ceramics, cooking, and community organizing are embedded into my art practice. When I was 21, I organized my first art show in my hometown, Sacramento, California. Half of the proceeds from the show benefitted WIND Youth Center, a place for unhoused teenagers to seek refuge. For the past twenty years, I have used my platform as an artist to organize people in my neighborhood, social circles, and the greater city at large to engage with the homelessness crisis. While making sculptures, I think a lot about food scarcity and accessibility as I directly cast vegetables into my works. Inspired by the native and manufactured landscapes of Los Angeles and California in general, the bright colors and subject material in my work are in direct conversation with the overwhelming blanket of climate change, food insecurity, and looming fear of catastrophe.

I make textiles and ceramics adorned with vegetables, fruits, eggs, plants, flowers, birds, and animals. What began as an investigation and exploration into Big Agriculture, seed banks and food scarcity, has generated a closer look into my own relationship to food, cooking, gardening, community, feeding friends and unhoused neighbors. The language of ceramics and cooking are similar, as are the way the materials are handled; kneading, watering, glazing, firing. My sculptures are a celebration and memento mori of the creatures that I am inspired by, knowing they too, will suffer the same peril brought on by climate change.

In 2019, I created a giant 8,000 sq ft community picnic blanket embedded with native, edible seeds. This was displayed in a public park in the LA area where folks came out to pack up 1000 lunches for our unhoused neighbors. After the picnic, people were encouraged to cut up the oversized textile and take pieces to plant. I wanted this artwork to highlight our dire environmental crisis, while also being an inspiring meeting place for new ways of thinking and feeding people. My sculptural practice is informed by my social and environmental activism within unhoused and food insecure communities. I believe that art has the power to make real change in the world and for me, it starts with active gestures within my work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would grab a coffee from Lil’ East in El Sereno and go for a long walk admiring all of the wildflowers in the Lower Arroyo. We would go visit galleries like The Pit in Atwater Village, Gatto Pardo in Glendale, La Loma in Highland Park, and South Willard in Chinatown to name a few! For lunch, we pop into Osawa in Pasadena for a miso black Cod bento and sushi and then go home and take a nap! In the evening we would meet up with friends at Gold Line for happy hour, dinner at Checker Hall and a show at the Lodge Room. The next morning, we would go for a stroll in the glorious Huntington Gardens before heading to an Angel City soccer game near downtown. After the game, we’ll head back to my house to play records and make pizza. On the last day we would stop by Sip Snack on York and stock up on snacks and drinks before heading to DD’s pool to lounge with our pals. Lastly, we’ll zip home and get dressed up before going out to the Magic Castle for a late night of magic!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to shoutout Jackie Norvell, aka Brown Bag Lady!!! Jackie runs the non-profit called Brown Bag Lady and works tirelessly getting people in Skid Row access to food, clothing, hair cuts, pet supplies, etc. I have been cooking and organizing for her since 2020 and am in constant awe of her and her AMAZING crew of volunteers who show up day in and day out. While we, as individuals, can’t solve the homelessness epidemic, we believe that showing up for each other with care, dignity, and respect is the most important thing we can do.

Website: https://emilymarchand.com

Instagram: @emily_marchand

Image Credits
Caitlyn Montgomery, Robert Wedemeyer