Through a meticulous process of hand embroidery, Emily Barletta (b. 1981) reaches a transcendent space  - one akin to journaling with a stream of consciousness sensibility. Each stitch is a mark in time creating a storyboard of sorts mapping the struggles and triumphs involved not only in each piece, but those that led her to this larger visual language. Emily was diagnosed with a rare spinal disease when she was twelve and experienced severe pain and bullying for years. Learning to crochet early on, she utilized the repetitive, intimate and highly meditative process to recover from numerous surgeries. From these crocheted sculptural works illustrating the body on a cellular level (often of diseased cells or cell growth), she later discovered a microscopic viewpoint through photography, and translated this imagery to abstractions that took the form of embroidery on paper. In this transition, she maintained an attachment to the color red and its various shades, all relating to the body. Emily punctures the paper with tiny holes to form a blueprint, almost a genetic map, which connects each hole with another, stitch by stitch, often pulling each thread out and reordering the work until it feels right. Never cold or mechanical, she celebrates the gesture, the hand and the integrity of her process. The resulting work reveals a relationship between organic growth and human mark-making; the nature of repetition and the passage of time. 

Barletta received her BFA in Fiber Arts from the Maryland Institute Collage of Art in 2003. She has been featured in museum and gallery exhibitions across the United States and Canada, including at the Biennale Internationale du lin de Portnef in Quebec, the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles in California, the Minnesota Museum for American Art in St. Paul, the Asheville Museum of Art in North Carolina, and Pennsylvania State University. In 2009, she was awarded New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Crafts and in 2011, received a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Her work has been reviewed in numerous publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Fiberarts Magazine and others. Barletta currently lives and works in New York.

CV

EDUCATION:  
2003 - Bachelor of Fine Arts, THE MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART, Baltimore, MD - Fiber Arts

EXHIBITIONS: 

2017
Of Art and Craft, FLINN GALLERY, Greenwich, CT
Following the Thread KATHRYN MARKEL FINE ARTS, New York, NY
Art in Embassies, Hong Kong
Attention to Detail FANCY SHMANCY GALLERY
Underlying system is not unknown WESTERN EXHIBITIONS, Chicago, IL
Stitched, PARADIGM GALLERY, Philadelphia, PA
Red Matters, HUNTERDON ART MUSEUM, Clinton, NJ
Haus Warming, DE CHIARA PROJECTS, Stone Ridge
In the Details, SEABA GALLERY, Burlington, VT

2016
Mind Over Matter, FLORIDA CRAFTART, St. Petersburg, FL
Passing Through, SCHEMA PROJECTS, Brooklyn, NY
Intimacy + Materiality, HELEN DAY ART CENTER, Stowe, VT                   

2015
The New Textiles Transformed, MOBILIA GALLERY, Cambridge, MA
Objects of Desire, ARTE HAUS COLLECTIF, Salt Lake City, UT
Peregrinations, Constellations, SCHEMA PROJECTS, Brooklyn, NY
BIENNALE INTERNATIONALE DU LIN DE PORTNEUF, Portneuf, Quebec
A Common Thread SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF QUILTS & TEXTILES, San Jose, CA

2014
Tesserie Storie - Weaving Stories THE STEAM FACTORY, Milan, Itlay
Fresh Air, ARTSPACE 64, MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CENTER, New York, NY
The Vital Flux, GALLERY 107, North Adams, MA
Good Mail Day, ARTSTREAM STUDIOS, Dover, NH

2013
Repetition & Ritual, MINNESOTA MUSEUM FOR AMERICAN ART, St. Paul, MN
Growth and Decay, LITTLE BERLIN GALLERY, Philadelphia, PA
Repetition & Ritual, HUDGENS CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Duluth, GA
Open House, ART HOUSE GALLERY, Los Angeles, CA

2012
Art/Sewn, ASHEVILLE MUSEUM OF ART, Asheville, NC
The Sum of its Parts, MARYLAND ART PLACE, Baltimore, MD
Decade 3, ROBESON GALLERY, PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, State College, PA
Intimate Stitches, KELLIJANE, Philadelphia, PA

2011
Art/Sewn, FIVEMYLES GALLERY, Brooklyn, NY - Curated by Ward Mintz

2010
Cutting Edge, THE TEXTILE CENTER, Brooklyn, NY
Emily Barletta: Recent Work, NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, New York, NY
Space Odyssey, BALTIMORE CLAYWORKS, Baltimore, MD
The Sour Princesses, SEMANTICS, Cincinnati, OH
Fiberart International, PITTSBURGH CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Pittsburgh, PA
Drawing in Thread: Contemporary Embroidery, MOUNT IDA COLLEGE, Newton, MA

2009
Stitched, Looped, Knitted: Contemporary Needle Art, MILLS BUILDING, San Francisco, CA
Awakenings, SPATTERED COLUMNS, New York, NY - Curated by Heidi Lee
Absolutely Salacious, LITTLEFIELD GALLERY, Brooklyn , NY
Yarn Theory, PS122 GALLERY, New York, NY
Furthermore, A.I.R. GALLERY, New York, NY - Curated by Lily Wei
Stitch Spectacular, DIMENSIONS GALLERY, Atlanta, GA
Emily Barletta, LION BRAND YARN STUDIO, New York, NY

2008
Contemporary Repetition, LONG BEACH ISLAND CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Loveladies, NJ
Adaptation, CENTER FOR EMERGING ARTISTS, Philadelphia, PA
Generations 6, AIR GALLERY, New York, NY

2007
My Biology, ARTSTAR, Philadelphia PA - solo exhibition

ACHIEVEMENTS:  

2011
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, THE POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION, New York, NY

2009
New York Foundation for the Arts fellow in Crafts, NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, Brooklyn, NY

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

2015
Rodabaugh, Katrina. The Paper Playhouse, QUARRY BOOKS

2014
Krysa, Danielle. Creative Block, CHRONICLE BOOKS

2012
Maue, Joetta. Making it in NYC, SURFACE DESIGN   
Maue, Joetta. Eye of the Needle: Summer 2012 Surface Design Journal, SURFACE DESIGN JOURNAL - https://www.surfacedesign.org/eye-of-the-needle-summer-2012-surface-design-journal/

2011
Baker, Mollie. News & Notes, FIBERARTS MAGAZINE

2009
Lovelace, Joyce. News from Everywhere AMERICAN CRAFT MAGAZINE - https://craftcouncil.org/magazine/article/news-everywhere
Buck, Zoe. In Stitches: Emily Barletta, FOAM MAGAZINE
Generations 6, AIR GALLERY, New York, NY

2008
Werker, Kim. Going Biological, INTERWEAVE MAGAZINE - https://www.interweave.com/store/crochet-fall-2008-digital-editio