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A U TO P I A N P R OJ E C T: A N I N T E RV I E W W I T H E M I L E M AU S N E R
S A M B U O Y E ( H T T P : // B U R R O W P R E S S . C O M / A U T H O R / S A M B U O Y E / )

MARCH10,2016

ART

( H T T P : // B U R R O W P R E S S . C O M / C A T E G O R Y / F A N T A S T I C - F L O R I D A S / F E A T U R E S / A R T / )

A N I N T E RV I E W W I T H F LO R I DA- R A I S E D A RT I ST E M I L E M AU S N E R , D I S C U S S I N G H E R PA I N T I N G ,
ORANGEBLOSSOMSPECIAL.

FLORIDAWASANDISAUTOPIANPROJECT,ANDLIKEALLUTOPIASITSTRADDLESAN
I M M E N S E C O N T R A D I C T I O N O F T E R M S I N O U R C U LT U R A L I M A G I N I N G S .

Fantastic Floridas: What about Florida inspires you to make art?

Emile Mausner: Perusing almost any antique market around Florida

will yield a curious archive of postcards: some blank, some returned to
sender, many written on but never sent. Most are black-and-white
photographs, hand-colored to advertise the promise of a tropical
paradiseand this style remained popular even when color
photography was easier to reproduce. Florida was and is a utopian
project, and like all utopias it straddles an immense contradiction of
terms in our cultural imaginings. Even in its most glamorous pose,
Florida shows an unmistakably seedy underbelly, rife with kitschy air
thick as high humidity.

FF: Would you want to be considered a Florida artist? What kind of stereotypes does that term hold that youd
be willing to work with or against?
EM: I wouldnt mind being identi ed with Florida as an artist. I am a Floridian and some of my work investigates what
that identity could possibly represent. How do we develop our sense of unique belonging across a human landscape of
suburban sameness? If I could somehow subvert peoples perceptions of Florida, orbetter yetprovide an
opportunity for Floridians to identify with subversive works of art, to generate feelings of realbelongingin such work, I
think that would be powerful. I have yet to fully experience this in the work of other Florida artists.
Does that genre truly exist? Florida artistI think of hundreds of seascapes, all basically similar. We dont see many
artists confront the reality of our plein-air highways and retail strips, preferring instead sandy serenity and palmstudded sunsets. Even Im too close to the highway to want to deal with it artistically. Florida is so at; its hard to gain
perspective. But its the layering-upon the at landscape with our tacky, sunburned, bizarre people and history that
interests me.

On the other hand, I wouldnt want Florida to prevail ultimately over my appellation, as I believe I can create curious
and compelling images anywhere.
FF: Who are the three women in this piece. What do they mean for you?
EM: Simultaneously they represent real women in my life, very tenacious feminine role models, and very abstract
ideals. However, I think the personal associations I have with these gures is irrelevant. They function not as women
but as images of women, ritual placeholders in advertising space.
FF: Your work seems to use women as subjects frequently. Do you think there is a feminist aspect to your
work? How does that come into play in Orange Blossom Special?
EM: There is the maternal aspect, of course: Florida is my gurative birthing ground. I slowly awakened to the world in
hot bayside garages, on luminescent keys, by citrus trees and tannin streams. Fruit and water, feminine expressions.
I thinkOrange Blossom Specialcasts its actresses in an enigmatic role. These gures signal the ripeness of their territory,
which, try as you might, you may never precisely locate. And from impenetrability, the appearance of power.
_____
Emile Mausner studies painting at the University of Central Florida after completing her scholarship in art history and criticism
at New College in Sarasota. View more of her work here (http://cargocollective.com/emilemausner).

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Sam Buoye is a managing editor for BP Review and Fantastic Floridas.

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