Emma Tapley (American, born 1967) received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts and has studied at the Pratt Institute and the New York Academy of Art. She has been exhibiting her work for 25 years, and has shown extensively both nationally and internationally. Tapley’s realist paintings of the natural world often take years to complete as she gradually builds layers of carefully placed brush strokes. What results are representations tending toward abstractions of nature viewed from unusual perspectives. She disorients and challenges the viewer with her renderings of inverted reflections in water and cropped details of larger vistas. Tapley had multiple solo exhibitions with Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY, as well as solo and group shows internationally. Tapley is the recipient of the UCross residency in Wyoming, Art Shed residency in Sointula, British Columbia; Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, NY, Vermont Studio Center, Herhusid Residency in Iceland, and the Jentel Foundation residency in Wyoming.