EMILY HILDEBRAND

Freedom: Body and mind, in the art of Emily Hildebrand

The two issues of freedom that I explore in my artwork are the freedom of Transcendent Intimacy and the freedom of Agency and Autonomy. These two forms of freedom are both necessary for physical and psychological freedom and well-being. Given that life on Earth is intersectional and all things are intrinsically intertwined, there is no freedom without the freedom of Agency and Autonomy for all (no one can be truly free if others are oppressed) and there is no achieving that level of freedom or simple happiness without open transcendent intimacy.

As a figurative artist both the physicality and the psychology of my characters help me to explore and understand the world we live in as well as to suggest intersectional paradigm shifts. Reframing is hard, but we need to shift our perspective on these issues if we want to avoid extinct-ing ourselves or worse, creating a dystopic reality. I present the idea through my artwork that if we can develop the freedom of transcendent intimacy (think of the freedom that healthy children have: no manipulations or exploitations, just genuine involvement and connection without judgment) then we cannot only feel less alone but also afford others the respect and freedom we desire. This form of freedom requires practice as adults; monks work years to achieve the psychological freedom that children are born with. Essentially, it is the willingness to engage without assumption, judgment or angling: simply connecting. Reframing life through an intersectional lens of open transcendent freedom to intimately, be, with the world around you, would allow us to expand the boundaries of who and what are guaranteed Agency and Autonomy, which would in the end makes us all freer.

The freedom of agency and autonomy is the freedom to control one’s own mind and body and is essentially freedom from oppression and exploitation. Our global mutual freedom is expanded by ensuring the rights to agency and autonomy to all (animals and nature included). By expanding these rights, we would not only put exploitation in check, but also save our habitable environment.

In order for these rights to be expanded to all, we as a society need to develop the skill of transcendent intimacy and build the empathy required to create rights that protect all. We are in a tipping point, where we need to protect the other in order to protect ourselves. In terms of nature, it is clear that if we do not protect trees our earth becomes dry and dead, if we do not protect bees and pollinating insects, we cannot grow food. If we do not create a healthy compassionate younger generation, we do not have stable care for older generations. If we do not take care of the old, we lose knowledge. Every action affects everything else. We are all in this together to create a re-balancing and a path to our mutual survival. Respectful coexistence ensures our own survival, comfort, and true freedom.

In my view, we must work to develop the freedom of transcendent intimacy in order to open our minds and hearts to make space for granting the freedom of Autonomy and Agency to others which will in turn give us all Freedom, simply to be. I believe that as an artist, it is part of my job not only to see the oppression and problems of the world with open clear eyes, but of equal importance, to imagine a path forward, a world that we want to live in. To give voice to a positive uprising and unleash the call for Freedom.

A discussion of my paintings:

- ‘Intimate flow’, the Swimmer’s breath is straddling the worlds of air and water in intimate interaction with their environment. They have to flow with the water and the air to breathe and to move (to enjoy but also to survive). The painting is on a free-form cut piece of linen rather than being stretched and conformed to a perfect confined rectangle. In this sense the painting is free as an object in our physical world as well as creating a narrative space of intimate freedom for the swimmer in their world. They and we are free to flow powerfully forward together.

-In the Painting ‘Lessons in Being’, the woman with the butterfly tattoo is immersed, free to be with the intricacies of intimacy in her mind, body and environment. She enjoys the comfort to drop protections and to be open. Intimacy is about being open without judgment or assumption. She is simply being. She is free.

-In the painting ‘Chumbaba and the 7 mystical layers of protection’ we see through the Mesopotamian mythological character of Chumbaba (here in the form of a chaotic pile of 7 twisting humans and animals) that we need to protect nature if we want to protect ourselves. We are doomed if we cannot function as a whole (we need the full 7 layers, one is not enough). Chumbaba helps us to think about how to forge protections to create freedom. Without a safe space no one can be free, therefore freedom requires us to set a foundation of rights and protections.

-The painting, ‘Walking in Pink’, evokes the physical feeling of freedom through open intimacy. -The painting, ‘Nest’, invites us to think of the vulnerability that is necessary for the freedom of intimacy that the freedom of Autonomy protects.

-The painting, ‘We are a tipping point’, allows us to remember the thrill of our body free for a moment from constraints of normalcy.

- ‘Quantum Entanglement’, We are made of the same matter as the rest of the universe, star dust, and as such, never actually alone. The concept of Quantum Entanglement in Physics states that every action instantaneously effects matter on the opposite side of the universe. Singing a song in your space, affects some far-off entity intimately. I find it beautiful and comforting to be a part of this cosmic soup.

-The painting, ‘Stories from my travels; question your assumptions’, explores the candid and free intimacy with imagination of a child. Interestingly, it, at the same time triggers adults with their own fear of the unknown. A child plays with the unknow, that is freedom.

-The painting ‘pieced together by perception’ speaks of the idea that maybe we have several selves and that there are many was to perceive any issue. If we allow ourselves, we can look for many perspectives at once to see a truer whole.

In my paintings, I am searching for the intimate experience of living in the sensual psychological atmosphere of our planet and thereby opening up a path to a positive uprising, creating empathy and from there, rights, that will protect us all. We can use the freedom of transcendent intimacy to open our minds and hearts to make space for Autonomy and Agency of others and this will give us all Freedom to be.