Emily Booth will showcase her artwork at the River Campus

For Emily Booth, art is a tool for understanding -- be that social institutions or owning a home. The latter came into play when she was creating the work for her current exhibition at the River Campus Art Gallery, which will hold a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. today.

Until two years ago, Booth had never lived in an apartment for more than a year. When she moved to Southeast Missouri, she bought her first house. She described the experience as similar to a relationship.

"There is this consideration of creating personal meaning in a living environment," Booth said.

This made her curious about how other people craft their living space. Booth's method of pondering such topics is to do so through her art. These ideas played into the paintings in her exhibition.

She used her painting "Purple Pillow" as an example. It is a painting of her two dogs lying on a pillow, but the pillow is the main character.

"It is directly referencing crafting a domestic environment," Booth said.

Booth is the exhibition coordinator at the gallery. She said when it came to coordinating her own exhibition it was simple.

"I knew what I wanted," Booth said.

Each year, the February slot is reserved for faculty members in the Department of Art. The chosen artist can showcase his or her own work, coordinate a visiting artist or organize a group show.

Booth chose to showcase her own paintings. The title of her show is "Emily Booth: Current Work."

Her two rescue dogs, Dagwood and Dumplin, make several appearances in this series of paintings.

"They are these creatures that inhabit this living space," Booth said.

She explained that because she is not married and does not have children, the dogs are part of her idea of a household.

Booth began her artistic career at a young age. At age 14, Booth, a Virginia native, studied in the Mary Baldwin College's Program for the Exceptionally Gifted. When she was 15, she began attending Virginia Commonwealth University, where she received a bachelor of fine art degree in painting and printmaking. She received a master of fine art Degree in painting from the University of Delaware.

Booth said she had a formal art education at VCU. She said she went through a phase of using art to dissect things and put them back together in order to figure out the world around her. She explored how people behave within the social institutions they create.

"I came to the conclusion that I would never have the answers," Booth said.

It was during this time that Booth became interested in street art.

A year and a half after she began working at Southeast, Booth began a series of what she calls portable paintings. The paintings were done on window cling material, placed around town and then photographed. She described them as nondefacing graffiti.

Booth values creative expression in general. She said people can get on autopilot and that it is important for them to encounter things in life that make them pay attention.

"Having public displays of the creative process can really affect daily life," Booth said.

Before moving to Cape Girardeau, Booth was an exhibitions coordinator of Perkins Student Center Gallery and a gallery assistant in Recitation Hall Gallery, both at the University of Delaware. She was also director of the Truman State University Art Gallery.

In addition to being the exhibitions coordinator at the River Campus Art Gallery, Booth teaches art foundations classes at Southeast.

"I have a real love of teaching," Booth said.

Booth even incorporated a lesson into her exhibition. She compiled a PowerPoint presentation so students could see the creative process of the paintings.

Booth's exhibit can be viewed through Feb. 17 at the River Campus Art Gallery in the Seminary Building. Normal gallery hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

ajones@semissourian.com

388-3654